At a recent closed-door meeting at the Payson Tea Party, Arizona Senator Wendy Rogers encouraged supporters to try to disrupt mail-in ballots by making false claims of identity theft on ballots.
According to Coconino County officials, the county’s election process is shielded from such disruptions. They said following Rogers’ instructions had little effect on the accuracy of vote counting and could lead to criminal charges.
Rogers, who is running for a seat in Arizona’s 7th legislative district, has heavily publicized fraud claims in the 2020 election. Her insistence is reflected in her latest plan to “stop” mail-in ballots. The plan was first reported by the Payson Roundup after reporters obtained a recording of his speech to the Payson Tea Party.
In the transcript, Rogers detailed her plan, as transcribed below:
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“Like me, they get their ballots in the mail. About 83% vote in the mail. Seal it up and put it in your pocket. Wait until Election Day. , I’m Nancy Cox, and they’ll say, ‘Oh, you’ve already voted.’ You say, “I’m not voting. I’m taking a provisional ballot.” And Nancy Cox votes. Then you call the sheriff’s office and say, “I have an identity theft problem. Please come and record it.” Why are we doing this? is just closing one avenue of deception. Are they going to steal this election? Oh yes – they’re going to steal it.
According to Coconino County Recorder Patti Hansen, there are several reasons why the plan may not be effective in disrupting mail-in ballots.
“I don’t think she knows how it works in the first place,” Hansen said.
She explained that unreturned early ballots are not processed and therefore do not indicate that someone has already voted.
“If an early ballot is mailed and you do not return it, you are not forced to vote on a provisional ballot,” Hansen said.
In such a scenario, voters only need to turn in their regular ballots at polling stations, Hansen explained.
If a voter returns an early mail ballot before Election Day and it is accepted, Hansen explained, this will be reflected in the ballot record. , you will be notified that your vote has already been accepted. At that point, a provisional ballot could be requested, but “you shouldn’t,” Hansen said.
“And they never called the sheriff about it,” she explained. does not understand the ‘identity theft’ part.”
In any event, Hansen said provisional ballots submitted in these circumstances would be rejected.
“That’s why provisional ballots are put in envelopes and kept separate because we want to verify that information to see if voters are actually eligible to vote,” Hansen said. “You can’t vote twice.”
She also said those who attempt to vote twice by submitting a mail-in ballot and requesting a provisional ballot could “could be prosecuted” for voter fraud.
Coconino County Sheriff’s Office spokesman John Paxton said there could also be legal consequences for falsely claiming identity theft in the manner suggested by Rogers.
Paxton said anyone who “knowingly filed a false police report or provided false information to law enforcement” could be charged with a class 1 misdemeanor. He added that calls related to identity theft in polls will be investigated like any other call.
“If someone calls us and files a false report with the police, we take the report, follow it up, and conduct an investigation,” Paxton said. If they are found to be lying to us or providing us with false information, we will decide at that time whether to prosecute them for false information.”
Paxton also said the sheriff’s department “has no intention” of responding to polling stations about identity theft allegations.
“I have no intention of interfering in the election at that point,” he said. “We collect information and proceed like a crime.
Hansen said there were no allegations of voter fraud in Coconino County during the 2020 election. Of the 61,445 mail-in ballots collected and tallied, 156 were rejected. Of these, 31 were unsigned, 26 had signatures different from those on file, 23 were erroneous duplicate ballots received from voters requesting replacement of ballots believed to have been lost, and 36 were erroneous duplicate ballots. was a mail-in ballot denied by submission. As a result of the voting in the ballot, 40 were rejected because they were submitted after the 7:00 pm deadline on Election Day.
Hansen said there are multiple security measures to ensure safe and accurate voting. They include Republicans, Democrats, and independent party representatives who oversee election tallies. Voting machines are also completely “air-gapped, stand-alone” devices that are never connected to the internet and are kept under lock and key.
Hansen assured Coconino County elections would be “very safe,” saying, “I can’t tell you all about security because it makes it less secure.”
“Everyone involved in the election is taking this very seriously and going backwards to make sure everything is fair and honest,” she stressed.
She said any attempt to further disrupt the electoral process was “disgraceful”.
“The false accusations are really frustrating and disappointing,” Hansen said. “Especially if they come from elected officials or candidates.”
The 2022 Coconino County General Election will take place on November 8th. Here are some other important dates to keep in mind:
October 11 – Voter Registration Deadline
October 12 – Early voting begins and ballots are mailed
October 28 – Last Day to Request Mail in Ballots
November 4 – Last day for early voting
For more information on Coconino County elections, please visit: flagstaff.az.gov/2105/election.
