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

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

But the decide rejected a prosecutor’s request that she serve no less than 30 days in jail as a result of she lied to investigators and demanded that they hold these committing voter fraud accountable.

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

McKee, who was from Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale however now lives in California, sobbed as she apologized to Maricopa County Superior Courtroom Choose Margaret LaBianca before the choose handed down her sentence. McKee said that she was grieving over the loss of her mother and had no intent to influence the outcome of the election.

“Your Honor, I want to apologize,” McKee instructed LaBianca. “I don’t need to make the excuse for my habits. What I did was improper and I’m ready to just accept the consequences handed down by the courtroom.”

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

Assistant Lawyer Normal Todd Lawson performed a tape of McKee being interviewed by an investigator together with his workplace the place she stated there was rampant voter fraud and denied that she had signed and returned her mother’s poll.

“The one option to stop voter fraud is to bodily go in and punch a poll,” McKee told the investigator. “I imply, voter fraud goes to be prevalent so long as there’s mail-in voting, for positive. I mean, there’s no approach to ensure a fair election.

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

Tom Henze, McKee’s legal professional, pointed to dozens of cases of voter fraud prosecuted in Arizona over the past decade, many for related violations of voting another person’s ballot, and said no one acquired jail time in these instances. He stated agreeing with Lawson that McKee should do 30 days jail time would elevate constitutional issues of fairness.

“Simply said, over a protracted time frame, in voluminous instances, 67 cases, no person on this state for similar instances, in comparable context ... no person got jail time,” Henze stated. “The court didn’t impose jail time at all.”

But Lawson said jail time was important because the type of case has changed. Whereas in years previous, most circumstances involved people voting in two states because they both lived in or had property in both states, in the 2020 election people had bought into Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud.

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

“I don’t subscribe to that in any respect,” he mentioned. “And I feel the attitude you hear within the interview is the attitude that differentiates this case from the opposite instances.”

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

“And if there were proof that this crime was on the rise, and that heightened deterrence may be called for, the courtroom might order jail time,” LaBianca mentioned. “However the report here doesn't present that this crime is on the rise.

“And abhorrent as it could be for someone like the defendant to assault the legitimacy of our free elections without any evidence, besides your own fraud, such statements aren't illegal as far as I know,” the judge continued.