South Dakota state Sen. Tom Pischke faces up to 4 years in prison for election fraud charges
South Dakota State Sen. Tom Pischke faces up to four years in prison and the loss of his legislative seat if convicted of election fraud. The Republican lawmaker is accused of forging multiple signatures on party nomination forms.
South Dakota state Sen. Tom Pischke (R-Dell Rapids) turned himself in to the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday after being charged with two election-related forgery charges, which could lead to multiple years in prison.
The 44-year-old Republican was charged with two counts of offering a false or forged Instrument for filing, a Class 6 felony. His initial hearing is set for July 7. Pischke’s lawyer, Ryan Kolbeck, told South Dakota Searchlight that the lawmaker is cooperating with the investigation but “has no further comment at this time.” If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison.
Fraud investigation led to Pischke’s arrest
Pischke is accused of forging signatures on nomination forms to put precinct committee candidates on the ballot. Republican precinct committeepersons hold a variety of duties, including voting at county party meetings and voting for the GOP’s nominees in statewide elections.
In March, the Minnehaha County Auditor’s Office discovered these forms all had the same handwriting. After reaching out to the candidates, the office found that most of them did not even know about the form. The office also cross-referenced the suspected fraudulent signatures with the candidates’ real signatures, and 15 of them did not match.
A subsequent investigation conducted by the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Department led to Pischke’s arrest. The South Dakota Republican Party told Dakota News Now that Pischke agreed to step away from his party duties while the case unfolds. If convicted, Pischke will likely be ineligible to hold office.
“No person who has been, or hereafter shall be, convicted of bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime, nor any person who has been, or may be collector or holder of public moneys, who shall not have accounted for and paid over, according to law, all such moneys due from him, shall be eligible to the Legislature or to any office in either branch thereof,” says Article 3 of the South Dakota Constitution.
South Dakota Republican Party Chair Jim Eschenbaum told AP News that will also not be eligible to hold a position in the state Republican Party if he is convicted.
Pischke has served in the South Dakota Legislature since 2017.
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