The unusual case of an Oak Harbor woman accused of feloniously filling out her daughter’s absentee ballot and signing it was settled with a plea bargain in Island County Superior Court Tuesday.

Notably, the case was one of the rare times in the state that a person has been charged for unlawfully voting, according to elections officials at the Washington Secretary of State’s office.

Elizabeth Reddy, 45, pleaded guilty to the charge of “attempted voting absentee ballot unlawfully,” a gross misdemeanor offense.

Judge Vickie Churchill agreed to impose the sentence recommended by both Prosecutor Greg Banks and Reddy’s attorney, Christon Skinner.

Churchill sentenced Reddy to 365 days in jail, with all 365 days suspended, and ordered her to pay $2,217 in fines and fees.

Also, she placed Reddy under the active supervision of the Department of Corrections, or on probation, for a year.

Banks originally charged Reddy on Oct. 25 with “voting absentee ballot unlawfully.” That’s a class C felony that carries a standard sentence range of up zero to 12 months in jail.

Reddy did not return a call for comment.

The charge stems from the investigation of 23 absentee ballots with suspicious signatures cast in the Oak Harbor School District bond election last May.

The auditor’s office did not count those ballots, instead referring them to the prosecutor who handed them over to former Sheriff Mike Hawley for investigation.

Only Redding’s ballot resulted in a criminal charge.

The certificate of probable cause signed by Hawley states he contacted Elizabeth Reddy at her home in Oak Harbor June 6 and she admitted she signed her daughter’s name on the ballot “at her daughter’s direction.” Her daughter lives in Bellingham.

“The voter’s affidavit clearly informed the voter that it is illegal to cast a ballot or sign an absentee envelope on behalf of another voter,” Hawley wrote.