Oak Park guardian pleads guilty to 7 counts of voter fraud in 2020 election

by Kara Berg

A Metro Detroit guardian has been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay a $3,500 fine for receiving payments to influence votes in the 2020 general election.

Nancy Williams pleaded guilty Thursday to seven counts of election fraud. In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors dropped 10 counts of providing a false statement on an absentee ballot, seven counts of forgery and eight counts of forging a signature on an absentee ballot application.

Investigators said Williams, who worked at Guardian and Associates in Oak Park, submitted applications for absentee ballots to nine city and township clerks on behalf of 26 legally incapacitated people under her care and had the ballots mailed directly to her.

She also allegedly submitted separate voter registration applications for each person without their knowledge or consent, according to court records.

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Van Houten sentenced Williams to one year of probation and ordered her to pay a $3,500 fine.

She also is facing seven counts of election forgery and putting false statements on an absentee ballot application in Oakland County. That case remains pending in circuit court.

Officials said the state's Bureau of Elections became concerned about the issue in October 2020 when election administrators reported absentee ballot applications signed with an "X" with the request that the ballots be sent to an address for "Guardian and Associates in Oak Park." 

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Oak Park guardian pleads guilty to 7 counts of voter fraud in 2020 election