Charges dropped against woman who registered her dog to vote

Criminal charges were dismissed Monday against Jane Balogh, the Federal Way woman who registered her dog to vote — but not without a hiccup along the way.

King County District Court Judge Mariane Spearman dropped a misdemeanor charge of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant, based on Balogh's completion of the terms of a plea agreement reached in September 2007.

Balogh, 67, a grandmother and Army veteran, paid $240 in court costs and completed 10 hours of community service at the Tacoma Rescue Mission.

She registered her Australian shepherd-terrier mix as a voter in protest of what she contends are lax standards for voters to prove their identity and citizenship. She used a utility bill in the dog's name — Duncan M. MacDonald — as identification.

Balogh made no attempt to hide the deception after the fact, telling a number of elected officials what she had done and putting a pawprint instead of a signature on an absentee-ballot envelope. She didn't try to vote using the dog's registration.

Monday's court action resolved an apparent clerical glitch that led the court to conclude in May that Balogh had failed to pay court costs or begin doing community service. One day after a May 29 hearing, Balogh sent the court a copy of the check with which she paid the $240 in court costs Sept. 5, 2007. The check cleared two days later.

Balogh apparently failed to comply with the part of her plea deal that said she would complete 10 hours of community service "at agreed upon location to be provided within 6 mos." She said Monday she didn't have a copy of the final plea agreement and didn't realize she was supposed to obtain court approval of a community-service site by March.

At the court's urging, she paid an attorney $1,000 to represent her Monday.

Balogh said she was saddened by her difficulties with the court and her failure to get any elected officials to respond to her letters and phone calls complaining that current state laws make it too easy for an undocumented worker or a nonexistent person to be added to the voting rolls.

"I'm a nobody. I'm just a plain old lady who loves her country and nobody is responding," Balogh said. "What does it take to get somebody to listen?

"You tell me why, when you have such a broken system, not a county, state nor local politician — no one — bothered to contact me and say, 'Hey, Mrs. Balogh, you're right, things are a little shaky.' "

Dan Donohoe, spokesman for King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, declined to comment on the case Monday. Satterberg authorized the plea deal last year, saying it held Balogh accountable "but it doesn't go overboard" by leaving a criminal conviction on her record.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com