math_polyQuestion to those legal types:
What Federal (or NYS) criminal and laws are implicated if someone objectively lies about their record (and in what forums) and maybe or maybe not as a result, is elected? As George Santos is alleged to have done (decent article link below)
FWIR, civil fraud requires four elements
- a lie or statement made in reckless indifference to the truth
- made to a specific audience
- reliance on that fraudulent statement
- a tort (damage)
#NotLegalAdvice
If the candidate submitted or allowed his organization to submit incorrect info a) on his own election-specific website, b) to a pseud-official sources such as ballotopedia, or c) to an official government entity that had as its purpose making that info available to voters, what
Next question - suppose this is only a civil matter. Suppose other people helped him and can be show to have repeated or enabled these fraudulent statements (e.g. conspiracy to commit fraud) - what is their actual or statutory damage that can be claimed for having their (or other people’s vote) misdirected?
Interested to hear answers, I think it’s probably not civilly addressable in practice, which is why a criminal statute would be required to disincentivize this type of behavior.
#legal #fraud #elections #federallaw #NYStateLaw #IANAL
#legalquestion
#failuremode