A Hayes resident was convicted in Gloucester General District Court earlier this month on a misdemeanor charge of obtaining services by false pretense after being charged with attempting to vote twice in the 2020 presidential election.

Jonathan Meade West Sr. was originally arrested on a felony charge of attempting to cast more than one ballot in the election. According to a probable cause statement filed in the case, West is alleged to have said that he was “testing the process.”

The 50-year-old, who is a voter in Gloucester’s York District, cast his absentee ballot on Friday, Oct. 9 at the Gloucester County Voter Registrar’s office. West filled out a check-in page where he wrote his name, address and reason for visiting the office as “absentee.” He also signed and dated the form.

Lisa Hawks, Assistant Registrar, handwrote on West’s check-in form that she verified his identity by his driver’s license. After casting his absentee ballot, Hawks confirmed that his vote had been successfully cast and then he left the office.

West returned to the registrar’s office four days later, accompanying his girlfriend, who was voting that day, the statement read. He was greeted and provided a check-in sheet by Hawks, who did not recognize him from before. He filled out the form once again.

The VERIS (Virginia Election and Registration Information System) was not functioning properly on West’s second visit, though it had been working on his initial visit on Oct. 9. The office was using a back-up system that day which involved taking the information manually and verifying he was a registered voter. Hawks checked the list and discovered he had already cast his ballot for the 2020 presidential election.

Hawks confronted West immediately and he admitted that he had voted before. He said he had “heard the system was down” and was “testing the process.”

Steven H. Perry, senior criminal investigator with the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office, interviewed West on Oct. 26. At that time, West admitted that he had voted on Oct. 9 and then went back to the registrar’s office with his girlfriend on Oct. 13. Once there, West “heard the system was down” and decided to check and see if the election officials were correctly doing their jobs, the statement said. West also admitted to submitting another check-in sheet.

West further told Perry about “the left” cheating in the election and that he was an “unabashed conservative” and simply wanted to make sure that the process was working.

West’s alleged attempt to vote twice came after then-President Donald J. Trump encouraged his North Carolina supporters on Sept. 2 to attempt to vote twice in the presidential election, once by mail and another time in person, in order to test the system.

West was found guilty of the amended misdemeanor charge on Jan. 14 and given a suspended jail sentence of 12 months and a $500 fine.

West and his attorney, Steven D. Barnette, declined to comment on the case. Gloucester County Voter Registrar Bobbi Morgan also declined to comment.