My "Life Experiences" Made Me Vote Five Times

A man who voted as many as five times in an election, Robert D.Monroe, is attempting a unique defense for his likely crime.

Monroe, an insurance professional from Shorewood, may face a real challenge in convincing a judge that his mental condition was to blame for him voting illegally in five elections over the course of two years.

 Monroe 51, was originally charged in 2014 with 13 felony counts and pleaded no contest Monday to six of them.  Each is punishable by up to 18 months in prison.

Monroe blamed the double, and once quintuple, votes in 2011 and 2012 on fugue states, or periods of disassociative disorder. He blamed his disorder on a long series of life events, from watching his father have a heart attack at age 8 and surviving a serious car crash in high school, to witnessing sexual misconduct by a priest in college and the fallout of his brother's murder in 2000.

Mr. Monroe’s vote fraud was only discovered due to his blatant and repeated offenses. Unfortunately all of his illegal votes were counted and as result a number of voters were disenfranchised. Monroe’s case shows the ease with which vote fraud can be committed in a same day registration state such as Wisconsin.