A Costa Mesa woman’s unusual approach to civic participation has landed her in serious legal trouble after she allegedly registered her beloved dog Maya to vote in two California elections and successfully cast a ballot on the canine’s behalf at least once.
Laura Lee Yourex, 62, now faces five felony charges after prosecutors say she registered her dog to vote in both the 2021 gubernatorial recall election and the 2022 primary election. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Maya’s fraudulent vote was actually counted in the 2021 recall election, though her ballot was rejected the following year.
The case came to light in an unexpected way when Yourex herself contacted election officials. “The Orange County District Attorney’s Office was contacted by the Orange County Registrar of Voter’s Office in October of 2024 about a resident who ‘self-reported that she had registered her dog to vote and had in fact cast a mail-in ballot she received addressed to her dog, Maya Jean Yourex,'” prosecutors stated in their release.
What makes this case particularly striking is how brazenly Yourex documented her actions on social media. Investigators discovered photos posted to her accounts in January 2022 showing Maya wearing an “I voted” sticker while posing alongside a voter’s ballot. The evidence trail continued even after Maya’s death, with an October 2024 post featuring the dog’s tag next to a vote-by-mail ballot, captioned “maya is still getting her ballot,” despite the pet having already passed away.
The scheme exploited vulnerabilities in California’s voter registration system. State law requires voters to complete an Affidavit of Registration including basic information like name, address, date of birth, and citizenship certification, all signed under penalty of perjury. However, proof of residence or identification isn’t required for state elections, nor is it needed to cast a ballot. Only first-time federal election voters must provide proof of residence and registration.
This relatively lenient verification process allowed Maya’s registration to slip through initially, though the system ultimately caught the fraud in the 2022 election. “As a result, the 2022 primary ballot cast in Maya Jean’s name was challenged and rejected,” the DOJ noted.
The charges against Yourex are extensive and serious. She faces one count of perjury, one count of procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed, one count of registering a non-existent person to vote, and two counts of casting a ballot when not entitled to vote. All five charges are felonies that could result in significant prison time.
If convicted on all counts, Yourex faces a minimum of six years in state prison, according to prosecutors.
The timing of Maya’s fraudulent participation in the 2021 recall election adds another layer of significance to the case. That election, which aimed to remove Governor Gavin Newsom from office, was ultimately defeated by 61.9% of voters. While one dog’s vote wouldn’t have changed the outcome, the principle of maintaining election integrity remains paramount regardless of the scale of fraud.