Matt Mowers, who served as a senior adviser in the Trump administration and had a stint at the State Department, reportedly voted by absentee ballot in New Hampshire’s presidential primary in 2016.
He later cast another ballot in New Jersey’s presidential primary using his parents’ address, where he re-registered, according to documents obtained by AP through a public records request.
Mowers’ actions could potentially violate a federal law that bans people from voting more than once in “any general, special, or primary election” in different jurisdictions “for an election to the same candidacy or office.”
However, the statute of limitations for the offense has lapsed and AP reported on Tuesday that no one has been prosecuted under the section of federal law that deals specifically with this issue, citing analysis from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Mowers is currently running for the Republican nomination for New Hampshire’s 1st congressional district in the hopes of defeating incumbent Democratic Representative Chris Pappas.
At the time of the 2016 New Hampshire primary, Mowers was director for former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s presidential campaign in the state. New Hampshire is the first state to hold a primary and is considered a crucial contest.
The 2016 Republican primary in New Hampshire took place on February 9 and the New Jersey primary took place about four months later on June 7. Christie was initially considered a major contender for the nomination, which eventually went to Trump, who won the New Jersey GOP primary with more than 80 percent of the vote.
Mowers’ campaign spokesperson John Corbett issued a statement to AP that did not address the issue of Mowers voting twice.
“Matt was proud to work for President Trump as the GOP establishment was working to undermine his nomination,” Corbett said.
“Matt moved for work and was able to participate in the primary in support of President Trump and serve as a delegate at a critical time for the Republican Party and country,” he said.
Mowers had moved to New Hampshire in 2013 to become executive director of the state’s GOP. Following Christie’s presidential run in 2016, he moved back to New Jersey, where he cast a primary ballot for Trump.
A New Hampshire law forbids voting twice in two separate states but contains an exception for someone “legitimately moved his or her domicile.”
The AP report comes as former President Trump has continued to allege voter fraud and other irregularities in the 2020 presidential election and that the contest was stolen from him—claims repeatedly rejected by state elections officials and the courts.
Mowers acknowledged in August, 2021 that President Joe Biden was the rightful winner of the 2020 election. He joined Trump’s 2016 campaign in July that year. Christie had suspended his campaign on February 10 and endorsed Trump on February 26. Mowers went on to serve as Senior White House Advisor in the State Department.
Newsweek has asked Matt Mowers’ campaign for comment.
Update 04/05/22 10.00a.m. E.T.: This article was updated to include more information and a new photo.
