A federal government employee accused of voting in both Georgia and Maryland during the 2020 presidential election was arrested Friday in Columbia County on an outstanding warrant, authorities confirmed Monday.
Tobi Jenelle Edler-Slaughter, 49, turned herself in nearly a year after a Columbia County grand jury indicted her in September 2024 for voting as an unqualified elector. Investigators say she works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage, Alaska.
According to the indictment, Edler-Slaughter submitted an absentee ballot in Columbia County, Ga, in October 2020 after requesting a Democratic primary ballot in September. Days later, on Oct. 31, she voted again in person during early voting in Fort Washington, Md.
In both cases, she signed affirmations declaring she had not voted elsewhere. Authorities say Edler-Slaughter is listed as “unaffiliated” on her voter registration.
The arrest followed an investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, which received several voter fraud complaints after the 2020 election. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office reported that in 2021 alone, it referred 24 such cases for prosecution.
Following her surrender Friday, Edler-Slaughter was booked into the Columbia County Detention Center and remained in custody over the weekend. On Monday, Chief Judge Sheryl B. Jolly granted her a $40,000 bond, despite opposition from prosecutors.
According to her federal biography, Edler-Slaughter has more than 20 years of service in the federal government. Before joining the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she worked for the General Services Administration (GSA), where she held several high-level roles, including Deputy Director of Outreach within the Technology Transformation Service. Her background includes public affairs, communications strategy, social media, graphic design, and federal training initiatives.
She also previously served with the Department of Defense as a public affairs officer and journalist, including time on active duty in the Army and overseas in Japan.
Outside of her federal career, Edler-Slaughter has been recognized for mentoring youth and is active in community outreach. She identifies as Native American and is a mother of two adult children, a grandmother, and lives with her husband, two Yorkie dogs, and two aquatic turtles. (Story continues below).
The case arrives amid the lingering national controversy over the 2020 presidential election, which saw then-President Donald Trump repeatedly claim that the election was stolen through widespread voter fraud.
In the months following the election, dozens of lawsuits filed by Trump and his allies were dismissed by state and federal courts, mostly for lack of standing in the courts. Multiple recounts and audits in key battleground states confirmed the original results, showing no irregularities that would have changed the outcome of the race.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) called the 2020 vote “the most secure in American history,” and then-Attorney General William Barr stated the Justice Department had uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Incidents of alleged double voting, like the case involving Edler-Slaughter, have been spotlighted in ongoing debates over election integrity and voter trust.
