Girl avoids jail for voting lifeless mother’s poll in Arizona

PHOENIX (AP) — A decide 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 within the 2020 common election.

But the decide rejected a prosecutor’s request that she serve a minimum of 30 days in jail because she lied to investigators and demanded that they maintain these committing voter fraud accountable.

The case against Tracey Kay McKee, 64, is certainly one of just a handful of voter fraud instances from Arizona’s 2020 election which have led to expenses, regardless of widespread perception amongst 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 however now lives in California, sobbed as she apologized to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Margaret LaBianca before the choose handed down her sentence. McKee stated that she was grieving over the lack of her mom and had no intent to impression the result of the election.

“Your Honor, I want to apologize,” McKee advised LaBianca. “I don’t wish to make the excuse for my conduct. What I did was wrong and I’m prepared to just accept the consequences handed down by the court docket.”

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

Assistant Attorney General Todd Lawson performed a tape of McKee being interviewed by an investigator together with his office the place she said there was rampant voter fraud and denied that she had signed and returned her mom’s poll.

“The only way to prevent voter fraud is to physically go in and punch a ballot,” McKee informed the investigator. “I mean, voter fraud is going to be prevalent so long as there’s mail-in voting, for certain. I imply, there’s no method to make sure a good election.

“And I don’t consider that this was a fair election,” she continued. “I do consider there was plenty 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 similar violations of voting another person’s ballot, and stated no one received jail time in those circumstances. He stated agreeing with Lawson that McKee ought to do 30 days jail time would raise constitutional issues of equity.

“Simply said, over an extended period of time, in voluminous circumstances, 67 cases, nobody on this state for related cases, in similar context ... no person received jail time,” Henze said. “The court docket didn’t impose jail time in any respect.”

But Lawson stated jail time was important as a result of the type of case has changed. Whereas in years previous, most instances involved folks voting in two states because they either lived in or had property in each states, in the 2020 election individuals had bought into Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud.

“What we’re listening to is voter fraud is on the market,” Lawson informed the judge. “And essentially what we’re seeing here is someone who says ‘Nicely, I’m going to commit voter fraud as a result of it’s a big problem and I’m just going to slip in under the radar. And I’m going to do it because everyone else is doing it and I can get away with it.’

“I don’t subscribe to that at all,” he mentioned. “And I feel the angle you hear within the interview is the attitude that differentiates this case from the other circumstances.”

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

“And if there were evidence that this crime was on the rise, and that heightened deterrence may be referred to as for, the court might order jail time,” LaBianca said. “However the file right here does not present that this crime is on the rise.

“And abhorrent as it could be for somebody like the defendant to attack the legitimacy of our free elections with none evidence, except your personal fraud, such statements are not illegal so far as I do know,” the decide continued.