Adam Schwarze, a Navy veteran and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota, has come forward alleging voter fraud after discovering that state records indicate he voted in the 2012 presidential election. Schwarze asserts that it was physically impossible for him to have voted in person, as he was in California at the time undergoing the rigorous Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training.
Schwarze told Fox News Digital that he only became aware of the discrepancy when a reporter fact-checked his claim that he had exclusively voted for former President Donald Trump. Upon checking the Minnesota Department of State's website, he found records showing he voted in person in 2012. The records do not specify for whom he cast a ballot.
According to Schwarze, he was approximately 2,000 miles away in the California mountains attending BUD/S training. He recalled instructors penalizing SEAL candidates, including himself, for not submitting absentee ballots after the 2012 election results were announced. Schwarze’s deployment orders, reviewed by Fox News Digital, show his report date for the BUD/S course was June 12, 2012, with the course typically concluding around December, placing him in training during the November presidential election.
Schwarze also noted that his voter registration became active the day after the 2009 Minneapolis mayoral election, the city's first utilizing ranked-choice voting. Records indicate an unidentified person registered him to vote on the election day itself.
Schwarze believes that Minnesota's lack of a voter ID requirement may have facilitated the alleged fraud. He stated that the situation highlights broader election integrity issues in the state, drawing parallels to a recent large-scale Medicaid fraud scandal in Minnesota.
In response to inquiries about Schwarze's voting record, a spokesperson for Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon stated that the state's election system is governed by extensive laws to ensure honesty, security, and accuracy. The spokesperson highlighted Minnesota's high voter turnout and its consistent ranking in election administration performance, citing a non-partisan survey by the Election Data and Science Lab at MIT. The spokesperson encouraged those interested in learning more about Minnesota's election security measures to visit the state's election security webpage, which asserts the system is the "envy of the nation."
Schwarze has called for greater transparency, urging officials including Secretary of State Steve Simon, Governor Tim Walz, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, and Attorney General Keith Ellison to open voting logs and implement same-day in-person voting with identification.
"I've fought my entire life for the United States of America. I fought for democracy all over the world," Schwarze said. "And one of the pillars and foundational principles of democracy is free, fair and transparent elections, and we don't have any of those things right now in the United States of America."