Testimony begins for Kim Taylor’s voter fraud trial

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) - Day two of Kim Taylor’s election fraud trial continued Tuesday in Sioux City.

Kim Taylor is accused of “attempting to steal the votes of fellow Americans” to help her husband, Woodbury County Supervisor Jeremy Taylor.

Jurors heard testimony from the son of a Vietnamese woman who said he registered to vote, only to find out he had already submitted a ballot. But according to the prosecution, that ballot was actually filed by his mother at the direction of Kim Taylor, in order to help her husband get elected.

Kim Taylor remained active in her defense inside the courtroom, often jotting notes and conferring with her defense attorney. Meanwhile, prosecutors hammered home testimony from two witnesses: a Vietnamese mother and son.

Under questioning from the government, the mother testified she had no idea it was illegal to sign election materials on her son’s behalf, and that in the end, she really only wanted to vote for former President Donald Trump. In fact, she testified she didn’t know Kim Taylor’s husband, Jeremy Taylor, was even on the ballot. She also said she asked Kim Taylor if her actions were legal, and Kim Taylor told her that they were.

Read more: Trial begins for woman facing over 50 voter fraud charges in Woodbury County

The son then testified he had to leave the Iowa State campus and drive back to Sioux City to cast his ballot and sign a form saying he hadn’t voted before.

The mother testified she never asked her son who he wanted to vote for, and the son testified he would’ve never voted for Republican candidates like Jeremy Taylor.

For its part, the defense focused on the Vietnamese witnesses’ timeline, when the mother’s college-aged children were at home versus on campus for registration purposes and questioning about whether Kim Taylor was simply helping her rather than manipulating her. Combating allegations that Kim Taylor left out translating a warning that signing materials for someone else is a crime, Kim Taylor’s attorney pointed out the mother had passed her citizenship test in English, alleging that the mother could possibly read the forms for herself.

Woodbury County Auditor Pat Gill was also called to the stand by prosecutors to explain the ins and outs of voting, both in-person and absentee. He testified he noticed “irregularities” when the county received hundreds of write-in votes for Jeremy Taylor in a primary election for races he wasn’t running in.

While he couldn’t do anything back then, Gill testified the incident involving the mother and the son sparked him to report the incident to authorities, launching the current case and connecting the two incidents.

Under defense questioning, Gill testified that generally, any voter can request the help of another person without violating the law, and that filling out information on ballot applications was legal so long as the voters themselves verified the information and signed the form.

As a reminder cameras are not allowed inside the federal courthouse, and that’s just a taste of what happened inside today.

Copyright 2023 KTIV. All rights reserved.