GOP Cites 'Skewed' Voting as Arizona Woman Pleads Guilty to Illegal Early Ballot Collection Scheme

Republicans previously argued the case of Guillermina Fuentes and the charges levelled against her as being part of a broader pattern in battleground states lost by ex-President Donald Trump to Joe Biden in the 2020 election, which the 45the POTUS called “rigged”.

An Arizona woman accused of illegally collecting early ballots in the 2020 primary election has pleaded guilty to the charges against her.

Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses were organized to select the pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, held on August 17–20, to determine the party's nominee for president in the November 2020 US presidential election.

Guillermina Fuentes, a well-known Democratic operative in the border city of San Luis, has entered a deal with state prosecutors, with more grave charges of conspiracy, forgery, and additional ballot abuse dismissed, according to the Associated Press.

'Ballot Harvesting'

Fuentes, 66, and another female co-defendant were originally indicted in December 2020 on one count of ballot abuse. The practice, commonly referred to as "ballot harvesting", was made illegal under a state law adopted in 2016.

This legislation allows only a caregiver or family member to return someone else’s early ballot, and, in some cases, fill them out. However, according to investigators, Fuentes used her position of authority in the heavily Mexican-American community to get people to give her or others their ballots to return to the polls.

The three felony charges were added last October, but prosecutors reportedly failed to prove them. The charges alleged that the former San Luis mayor, 66, filled out one voter's ballot for them, while also forging signatures on some of the four ballots she illegally returned for individuals who were not family members.

Fuentes and the other woman in the case were seen with several mail-in envelopes outside a cultural centre in San Luis on the day of the 2020 primary election, according to reports. The ballots were purportedly then taken inside and dropped in a ballot box.

Guillermina Fuentes found herself in the crosshairs after she was videotaped by a write-in candidate who then called the Yuma County sheriff. While reports alleged that Fuentes was seen in the footage marking at least one ballot, the specific charge was among those dropped by prosecutors. An investigation launched that day was subsequently taken over by the attorney general’s office.

FILE - In this May 6, 2021 file photo, Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. For some conspiracy theorists, the 2020 election still hasn’t ended. Trump supporters are pushing to re-examine ballots from November across the country, and finding success in swing states like Arizona and Georgia. Their efforts and sometimes misleading conclusions are being gleefully amplified by the former president.

© AP Photo / Matt York

Fuentes, who serves as an elected board member of the Gadsden Elementary School District in San Luis, could now get probation for running what Arizona Attorney General’s Office investigators described as a “sophisticated operation”.

In line with the plea agreement, which leaves the sentence up to a judge, she could get up to two years in prison, according to US media reports. It is added that this would require the said judge to find “aggravating circumstances”. Accordingly, the woman most likely faces probation, home confinement, and a fine.

Sentencing for Fuentes has been set for 30 June, with the woman to lose her voting rights and quitting her elected office.

Fuentes’ case is the only one brought by the attorney general under Arizona’s “ballot harvesting” law that was upheld by the US Supreme Court on 1 July 2021.

'A Broader Pattern'

The case feeds into allegations spearheaded by ex-POTUS Donald Trump and Republicans who decried the possibility of widespread voting fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Trump has repeatedly slammed the election as marred by “irregularities” that were wielded to “rig” the vote in favour of his rival, Democrat Joe Biden. He blamed manipulations involving electronic Dominion voting machines, as well as mail-in ballots in key swing states. However, state courts threw out his complaints, citing lack of evidence.

Nevertheless, the GOP has been arguing that the case of Guillermina Fuentes is just one instance of a broader pattern in battleground states.

Attorney General’s Office investigation records, cited by AP and obtained through a public records request, appear to show that under a dozen ballots could be linked to Fuentes. Nevertheless, investigators were cited as believing the effort could have gone much further.

According to the report by Attorney General’s Office investigator William Kluth, cited by US media, there was evidence suggesting Fuentes had canvassed San Luis neighbourhoods and collected ballots. She was also alleged to have paid for them in some cases, a practice that is illegal.

However, there is no evidence that Fuentes or anyone in Yuma County harvested ballots in the 2020 general election. Investigators from the Attorney General’s Office are reportedly still working in the community.

Thus, The Arizona Republic reported earlier that search warrants were served in May at a nonprofit in San Luis, seeking the cell phone of a councilwoman possibly implicated in illegal ballot collection.

“It’s all about corruption in San Luis and skewing a city council election. This has been going on for a long time, that you can’t have free and fair elections in south county, for decades. And its spreading across the country”, Yuma Republican Rep. Tim Dunn said at a legislative hearing on 31 May.