A Villager from Michigan has been charged with casting more than one ballot in an election.
Jay Richard Ketcik, 63, who lives at 5564 Henry Loop in the Village of Monarch Grove, turned himself in Wednesday afternoon at the Sumter County Detention Center in Bushnell on a Sumter County warrant charging him with the felony offense. The Manistique, Mich. native was booked at the jail and released after posting $2,000 bond.
He purchased his home in The Villages in July 2019. He registered to vote in Sumter County on July 29, 2020. He is registered as a Republican.
This is the second Republican in The Villages arrested on a voting fraud charge.
Last week, 72-year-old Joan Halstead, of the Village of Palo Alto was arrested on a Sumter County warrant charging her with the same offense. Halstead purchased her home at 1848 Palo Alto Ave. in April 2020. Sumter County voter records indicate she registered as a Republican on June 29, 2020. Halstead had filed earlier this year to challenge Villager Sally Moss for her seat on the Sumter County School Board, however, Halstead later withdrew her candidacy.
