Turning Point leader, former GOP Rep pleads guilty to attempted election fraud | Arizona Mirror
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Austin Smith election fraud guilty plea: Former GOP Rep admits forging 100+ signatures on ballot petitions in Arizona

Former Republican state legislator Austin Smith pleaded guilty Monday to what he previously called “ludicrous” charges that he personally forged more than 100 signatures on his petitions for reelection last year.

  • ORbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    1·
    18 days ago

    Smith pleaded guilty to the reduced charges as part of a plea agreement that gives him the possibility of avoiding a felony conviction. In Arizona law, when a person without a criminal history is found guilty of a low-level felony, the judge can wait until that person’s probation is finished before designating the crime a felony or misdemeanor. Essentially, that means if Smith completes any probation he’s sentenced to without violations, his conviction could be classified a misdemeanor instead of a felony.

    And that’s important, because felons in Arizona can’t vote or hold elected office unless their rights are restored by a judge.

    Fuck this. He should not be able to see a ballot again in his life.

      • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
        1·
        18 days ago

        No American citizen should ever lose their right to vote, for ANY reason, not even incarcerated prisoners. Hell, prisoners probably need governmental representation more than anyone.

        These are supposed to be God-given, inalienable rights, according to the Declaration of Independence, so how does a human-conceived entity presume to veto God?