The Flathead County Republican Party claims Democratic county commissioner candidate Stacey Schnebel engaged in illegal voting because she continued to vote in Whitefish city elections after she moved to Coram several years ago.

Jayson Peters, chairman of the county Republicans, sent a letter to County Attorney Ed Corrigan on Wednesday, detailing the voting record of Schnebel, who is seeking the District 1 commissioner seat currently held by Cal Scott.

Schnebel and her husband, Seth, moved from Whitefish to Coram seven years ago, but documentation from the Election Office shows she continued to vote in Whitefish in 2009 and 2011. She changed her voter registration to Coram in October 2012.

The Republican Party alleges that Schnebel’s act of voting in the Whitefish municipal elections while residing in Coram violates a state law that stipulates “no person may vote who is not entitled to vote.”

Peters said state law further provides that “a person who knowingly violates a provision of the election laws of this state for which no other penalty is specified is guilty of a misdemeanor.”

Schnebel issued a written statement Thursday morning, saying she is “flattered that the Republican Party is giving me this intense scrutiny.

“I am not an illegal voter and am confident that the County Attorney won’t find fault with my voting record,” Schnebel stated. “If anything, my voting record demonstrates that I perform my civic duty to vote. I find it interesting that my opponent will not engage in a public debate, and instead his party will take the frivolous tactic of trying to remove me from the ballot. Since we don’t have voter polls in Flathead County, I take this as an indicator that I am currently winning the race for county commissioner.”

Peters told the Inter Lake on Thursday that the Republican Party routinely checks the voting records of candidates “to see if they’re voting where they say they live.”

All of the documentation provided to the County Attorney’s Office involves public records, Peters stressed, including voter profile reports and property records from 2006 showing the Schnebels’ ownership of a home at 110 Bear St. in Coram.

“You do your legwork as to who your opponents are,” Peters said.

Candidates’ voter records were checked during the primary election, too, but Schnebel’s record at that point wasn’t “significant” because there were other candidates, he said.

Peters added that even though the Republicans “probably do have the upper hand” in the commissioner race, the voting issue with Schnebel was brought forward to create a fair playing field.

In his letter to Corrigan, Peters said it’s hard to believe the Schnebels “unintentionally” voted in the wrong town 20 miles from their home.

“They certainly knew that Whitefish had contentious elections, where a handful of votes might determine the outcome (as opposed to tranquil Coram, which has no city elections),” Peters wrote.

He pointed to the 2007 Whitefish City Council election during which Martin McGrew beat Turner Askew by two votes. A recount put that race at a tie, and a discrepancy over McGrew’s residency put him out of the running.

While Schnebel didn’t vote in the 2007 election, “the Schnebels likely concluded their two votes might determine a Whitefish election and thus decided to vote in Whitefish despite residing in Coram,” the Republicans allege.

The letter also points out that Schnebel voted in the 2011 Whitefish election when Whitefish voters passed “the infamous doughnut referendum.”

Schnebel’s opponent, Republican Phil Mitchell of Whitefish, said he had not seen a copy of Peters’ letter and hadn’t heard about the allegations, so he could not comment.

Flathead Democratic Party Chairman Dave Fern said he also hadn’t heard about the voter registration issue and likewise said he couldn’t comment.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.