Lady avoids jail for voting lifeless mother’s ballot in Arizona

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

But the judge rejected a prosecutor’s request that she serve at the very least 30 days in jail as a result of she lied to investigators and demanded that they maintain these committing voter fraud accountable.

The case towards Tracey Kay McKee, 64, is one of just a handful of voter fraud instances from Arizona’s 2020 election that have led to prices, 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 but now lives in California, sobbed as she apologized to Maricopa County Superior Courtroom Decide Margaret LaBianca earlier than the choose handed down her sentence. McKee said that she was grieving over the loss of her mom and had no intent to affect the result of the election.

“Your Honor, I would like to apologize,” McKee advised LaBianca. “I don’t want to make the excuse for my behavior. What I did was incorrect and I’m ready to accept the consequences handed down by the court docket.”

Each McKee and her mother, Mary Arendt, were registered Republicans, though 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 Basic Todd Lawson performed a tape of McKee being interviewed by an investigator together with his workplace the place she mentioned there was rampant voter fraud and denied that she had signed and returned her mother’s poll.

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

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

Tom Henze, McKee’s legal professional, pointed to dozens of instances of voter fraud prosecuted in Arizona over the past decade, many for comparable violations of voting another person’s ballot, and stated nobody acquired jail time in those circumstances. He stated agreeing with Lawson that McKee ought to do 30 days jail time would raise constitutional problems with fairness.

“Simply said, over a protracted period of time, in voluminous instances, 67 circumstances, nobody on this state for similar cases, in comparable context ... no one acquired jail time,” Henze stated. “The court didn’t impose jail time at all.”

But Lawson said jail time was essential because the kind of case has modified. While in years previous, most cases concerned people voting in two states as a result of they either lived in or had property in both states, in the 2020 election individuals had purchased into Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud.

“What we’re listening to is voter fraud is on the market,” Lawson advised the judge. “And essentially what we’re seeing here is somebody who says ‘Nicely, I’m going to commit voter fraud because it’s a big drawback and I’m just going to slide in beneath the radar. And I’m going to do it because 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 feel the perspective you hear within the interview is the angle that differentiates this case from the other circumstances.”

LaBianca stated that while she agreed with Lawson, ordering jail time would give McKee what she instructed the investigator what she needed: 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 referred to as for, the courtroom would possibly order jail time,” LaBianca said. “But the record here does not present that this crime is on the rise.

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