Voter fraud charges dropped against man prosecutors said was wrongly accused

Published 11:41 am Monday, May 6, 2019

Prosecutors are dismissing two voter fraud charges against a Mississippi man, agreeing with his defense attorney that he should not have been indicted.

The Clarion Ledger reports Madison County Circuit Judge John Emfinger signed an order Friday dropping the charges against 44-year-old Sherman Matlock.

Matlock was accused of voting in Canton’s city election in 2017 when he allegedly knew he was not a qualified voter.

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Prosecutors originally said Matlock’s 1993 manslaughter conviction stripped away his voting rights.

However, manslaughter is not on the list of 22 crimes that take away voting rights in Mississippi.

Matlock’s attorney, Lisa Ross, asked for his indictment to be dismissed. She said it was a shame that Matlock spent a month in jail after being wrongly charged. He was released after posting bond.