Woman avoids jail for voting useless mother’s poll in Arizona

PHOENIX (AP) — A choose in Phoenix on Friday sentenced a woman o two years of felony probation, fines and community service for voting her useless mom’s poll in Arizona in the 2020 normal election.

But the choose rejected a prosecutor’s request that she serve not less than 30 days in jail as a result of she lied to investigators and demanded that they hold those committing voter fraud accountable.

The case in opposition to Tracey Kay McKee, 64, is one of just a handful of voter fraud circumstances from Arizona’s 2020 election that have led to costs, despite widespread perception among many supporters of former President Donald Trump that there was widespread voter fraud that led to his loss in Arizona and other battleground states.

McKee, who was from Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale but now lives in California, sobbed as she apologized to Maricopa County Superior Court docket Decide Margaret LaBianca earlier than the judge handed down her sentence. McKee said that she was grieving over the lack of her mother and had no intent to influence the result of the election.

“Your Honor, I wish to apologize,” McKee informed LaBianca. “I don’t want to make the excuse for my conduct. What I did was mistaken and I’m ready to simply accept the consequences handed down by the court.”

Both McKee and her mom, Mary Arendt, were registered Republicans, although she was not asked if she voted for Trump. Arendt died on Oct. 5, 2020, two days before early ballots had been mailed to voters.

Assistant Legal professional Common Todd Lawson performed a tape of McKee being interviewed by an investigator together with his office where she said there was rampant voter fraud and denied that she had signed and returned her mother’s ballot.

“The one method to forestall voter fraud is to physically go in and punch a ballot,” McKee instructed the investigator. “I imply, voter fraud goes to be prevalent so long as there’s mail-in voting, for certain. I imply, there’s no manner to ensure a fair election.

“And I don’t imagine that this was a good election,” she continued. “I do believe there was a lot of voter fraud.”

Tom Henze, McKee’s legal professional, pointed to dozens of circumstances of voter fraud prosecuted in Arizona over the previous decade, many for related violations of voting another person’s ballot, and mentioned no one obtained jail time in these instances. He said agreeing with Lawson that McKee should do 30 days jail time would increase constitutional problems with equity.

“Merely stated, over an extended time frame, in voluminous cases, 67 circumstances, nobody in this state for similar cases, in similar context ... nobody acquired jail time,” Henze mentioned. “The court docket didn’t impose jail time at all.”

However Lawson mentioned jail time was vital as a result of the type of case has modified. Whereas in years previous, most instances concerned individuals voting in two states as a result of they either lived in or had property in both states, in the 2020 election folks had purchased into Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud.

“What we’re hearing is voter fraud is out there,” Lawson advised the decide. “And essentially what we’re seeing right here is somebody who says ‘Nicely, I’m going to commit voter fraud as a result of it’s a big drawback and I’m simply going to slip in underneath the radar. And I’m going to do it as a result of everybody else is doing it and I can get away with it.’

“I don’t subscribe to that in any respect,” he said. “And I think the attitude you hear within the interview is the angle that differentiates this case from the other cases.”

LaBianca mentioned that while she agreed with Lawson, ordering jail time would give McKee what she advised the investigator what she wished: going after people who dedicated voter fraud.

“And if there have been proof that this crime was on the rise, and that heightened deterrence may be called for, the court may order jail time,” LaBianca mentioned. “However the record right here does not present that this crime is on the rise.

“And abhorrent as it could be for somebody like the defendant to assault the legitimacy of our free elections without any evidence, except your personal fraud, such statements will not be unlawful so far as I know,” the decide continued.