Dog taken off voter rolls

More than a year after Jane Balogh registered her dog to vote, his registration has been canceled.

King County Elections Director Sherril Huff on Tuesday removed the dog, registered as Duncan M. MacDonald, from the voter rolls. Balogh, 66, of Federal Way, did not contest the action.

Balogh registered Duncan, an Australian shepherd-terrier mix, as a voter in April 2006 to show that identification requirements for new voters are too lax. She returned mail ballots in two elections with paw prints on the signature line, and the word "void" on the ballots. After telling an election worker last November that Duncan is a dog, she was surprised that he received a ballot for a Federal Way school bond vote in May.

Balogh has pleaded not guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of making a false statement to a public official by signing a declaration in Duncan's name saying he was over 18 and a U.S. citizen.

Her attorney, Kristen Anderson, said Balogh deserves a better deal than that offered to people who fraudulently cast more than one vote in an election.