The Sioux City woman who was convicted on 52 counts of voter fraud has completed her four-month prison sentence, and now is carrying out the second part of her sentence, with a stint of home confinement.
Kim Taylor Phuong was released from the federal minimum security prison in Waseca, Minnesota, on Friday, as first reported by KTIV News. Her sentence is under appeal.
Federal law officials said here acts of voter fraud were designed to help her husband, Jeremy Taylor, win office as a Republican candidate in 2020.
Taylor had faced the potential for five years in prison on each count of voter fraud.
A jury in fall 2023 ruled she had illegally filled out election documents and ballots for members of the Vietnamese community, who had limited ability to read and understand English.
Several witnesses testified that the signatures on such voting materials as absentee ballot requests and absentee ballot return envelopes were not theirs. A few people testified that they went to vote in 2020, only to be told they had voted, which was a huge surprise to them.
Jeremy Taylor has been named an unindicted co-conspirator in the case, but has not been charged.
Taylor has rebuffed calls to resign his position as a Woodbury County Board of Supervisors member. His four-year term ends at the end of December, and he is not running for re-election.
*Iowans who want to vote by mail can now start requesting absentee ballots for this fall’s election.
Tuesday is the first day county auditors can accept applications for absentee ballots. People in Woodbury County in recent days have been receiving notices of this voting option.
Completed ballot request forms must be mailed or delivered to the voter’s county auditor. County auditors can start sending ballots to voters on October 16. That day is also the first day for three weeks of early in-person voting.
Becky Bissell is president of the Iowa State Association of County Auditors. She said it’s good for Iowans to request ballots sooner rather than later to allow for processing at the auditor’s office and for mail times.
“It’s really important to get them in ahead of time so that you have more days at home to fill out your ballot, and then that also gives you more days that you can get it mailed back to us,” Bissell said.
Bissell says Iowans who want to vote by mail should make sure they’re registered to vote. Voters can then print an absentee ballot request form at voter-ready-dot-iowa-dot-gov or call their county auditor to have an application mailed to them.
*Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol are investigating two small plane crashes that occurred Monday in Northeast Nebraska, and two people have died.
The Nebraska State Patrol is the lead investigating agency on the plane crash that occurred in Knox County.
The location is approximately 4 miles southwest of Crofton, Nebraska. First responders, including troopers and Knox County Sheriff’s deputies, located the pilot, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
The pilot was the lone occupant of the plane. The name of the deceased will be released following notification of family.
The second crash occurred a short time later near Wayne, Nebraska, and a person also died as part of that crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board is working with local officials to investigate both crashes. Troopers have utilized drones to survey both crash scenes to assist in each investigation.
NOTE: This story has been updated to indicate a person died at each crash.
