Former McHenry man accused of improperly voting in Illinois in 2020 gets public service after pleading guilty

A Wisconsin man accused of driving to Illinois to illegally cast a ballot in the November 2020 election was sentenced last month to six months of conditional discharge and 20 hours of public service, McHenry County court records show.

Robert J. Sandy, 52, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty March 22 to disregarding the election code, a Class A misdemeanor. In exchange for his plea, a charge of perjury, a Class 3 felony, was dismissed, according to court records.

Sandy also was ordered to pay about $1,350 in fees and fines.

Sandy admitted to falsely stating he lived in the city of McHenry during the November 2020 election when he drove to Illinois from his home in Kenosha to cast his ballot, according to court documents.

got up early on Tuesday and traversed the 45 miles between my new home and my old one in order to have that privilege.

—  Twitter account of Robert Sandy of Kenosha, Wiscosnin

The felony he was initially charged with can carry a prison sentence of up to five years. It is also probational.

The allegations against Sandy are similar to claims made in a Twitter thread posted from an account using Sandy’s name.

“While I now live in Kenosha, WI, I never felt secure enough with the system, nor with my ability to maintain a life here, to attempt to change my voter registration from IL-14 prior to the election,” the tweet read. “It was also very important to me that I vote for @LaurenUnderwood again.”

The same Twitter user also claimed they “got up early on Tuesday and traversed the 45 miles between my new home and my old one in order to have that privilege.”

The Twitter thread resurfaced when 14th Congressional District candidate Jim Oberweis unsuccessfully challenged the race’s outcome.

“To think that a voter drove from his home in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to vote on election day in McHenry County and it was allowed to happen calls into question the integrity of the election,” Oberweis said in a January 2021 news release. “We are a nation of rules and laws, they need to be followed and enforced.”

Underwood spokeswoman Andra Belknap dismissed Oberweis’ maneuver at the time as “legal bluster.”

Underwood defeated Oberweis by more than 5,300 votes in the election to win a second term.

Attempts to reach Underwood and Sandy’s attorney for comment Monday were not immediately successful.