Openly homosexual sex columnist Dan Savage faces two counts of voter fraud in Iowa and a possible six years behind bars if convicted, for registering to vote in the Iowa caucuses despite his Seattle residency. It was part of a prank he tried to pull - and wrote about online - involving giving the flu to Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer. The essay Savage subsequently published in the online magazine Salon on the affair, "Stalking Gary Bauer," raised a small firestorm in which both the magazine's and Savage's ethics were questioned.
Savage was in Iowa to write about the Iowa caucuses when, hospitalized with the flu, he caught a television clip of Bauer fulminating against homosexuality and decided to try spreading his flu around the campaign hoping to bug the candidate himself.
He also registered Republican in Iowa despite being a Seattle resident, using his Iowa motel for his address. That registration got him a felony and a misdemeanor count.
Savage later tried to mop up the damage his essay generated by saying the entire business was a hoax, but very few of his critics and supporters alike were buying it, based on published comments during the controversy.
However, even Savage's most severe critics admitted it was more likely that he'd face trouble over vote fraud - especially since he admitted outright to it in the essay. "In fact, at the moment I was filling out that voter registration form," he wrote, "I could honestly say I would never want to leave Iowa. I'll send for the boyfriend and baby later in the week. I signed. I was an Iowan now."
