A Mankato man who'd been convicted of burglary in 2005 but registered at the polls and voted in November has been charged with a felony for illegal voting.

Shawn Scott Deatley, 30, said he was surprised at the new charge, because his sentence in the burglary case had been stayed so he thought he was eligible,said the Mankato Free Press.

But state law says convicted felons, even those with stayed sentences, lose their right to vote until they complete their probation requirements, according to Chris Rovney, assistant Blue Earth County attorney.

Deatley has since finished his probation, but that came in May, six months after the election.

The paper says that if Deatley had registered in advance, officials would have realized he was ineligible and not allowed him to vote, the paper said.

Lists of convicted felons are sent to county voting officials to be compared to voting lists. Anyone convicted of a felony is flagged on the registration lists signed by voters at the polls.

In Deatley’s case, however, he wasn’t a registered voter. He registered the day of the election. So the judges at his polling place didn’t have his name on their voter lists.