The second most corrupt politician in Arizona, Tom “banned for life by the SEC” Horne, is quoted in the media today commenting on the decision of the U.S. District Court for Kansas, Judge: Ariz. can require voter citizenship:
Attorney General Tom Horne, whose office argued the state’s case in Topeka, called Melgren’s decision a victory for election integrity.
“It’s important because voter fraud is a significant problem in Arizona,” he told The Arizona Republic, adding that he believes there “has been what I consider to be a media cover-up of the extent to which voter fraud is a problem in Arizona.”
Seriously? The Arizona Republic last year did an in-depth investigation into Horne’s unfounded allegations of of voter fraud and called bullshit.
Illegal immigrant vote-fraud cases rare in Arizona:
At an August news conference, Horne and Bennett cited voter-fraud concerns as justification for continuing a federal-court fight over state voter-ID requirements.
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An examination of voter-fraud cases in Maricopa County shows those involving illegal immigrants are nearly non-existent, and have been since before the changes to voter-ID requirements were enacted in 2004.
In response to an Arizona Republic records request, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office provided a list of 21 criminal cases since January 2005 in which the suspect was charged with a felony related to voter fraud. A search of court records found 13 other cases.
Of the 34 Maricopa County cases, two of the suspects were in the country illegally and 12 were not citizens but living in the U.S. legally, court records showed. One of the suspect’s legal-residency status was unclear from the records.
The non-citizens came from around the world — Indonesia, Canada, Mexico, Yugoslavia, the Philippines and Thailand. Most had been living legally in the U.S. for decades. Several stated in court documents that they thought they were permitted to vote because they were legal permanent residents of the United States.
None was convicted of a felony or given any jail time. A couple of the cases were dismissed; the other suspects pleaded guilty to misdemeanors and served a few months of probation.
Eighteen of the cases involved convicted felons who had lost the right to vote. In several of the cases, the felons told the court no one had ever explained to them that they no longer could vote even after serving their time. One said he was sent an early ballot in the mail and thought he was permitted to vote.
Presented with this information, Horne maintained that voter fraud by illegal immigrants is a problem in Arizona.
“There are thousands of people who were non-citizens who registered to vote, and many of them voted,” he said.
Let’s review. Tom Horne is the chief lawyer for the state of Arizona. Lawyers deal with factual evidence. When presented with the factual evidence, Horne’s response is effectively to say “Don’t bother me with the facts, I know what I believe!”
Assuming, arguendo, that Horne’s “belief” that thousands of non-citizens are registered and many of them have voted were true, how is it possible that there are only 34 suspect cases and no felony convictions or jail time? Is there some grand conspiracy between County Recorders not referring voter fraud cases, and County Attorneys not prosecuting voter fraud cases? If so, why hasn’t Horne prosecuted the County Recorders and County Attorneys for their grand conspiracy? And why hasn’t he taken over the prosecution of these cases himself?
The only conclusion one can draw from the evidence is that Tom Horne is miserably incompetent and unqualified for the job of Attorney General.
Horne’s claims of voter fraud are based on jury duty summons. But Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell has already explained to this incompetent prosecutor why he is such an ignoramus:
[Horne] said he based his statements on court testimony by county recorders, who said more than 200 people in a single year had stated on a jury-duty summons that they weren’t citizens. “And jury forms only go to a small percentage of residents, so you have to multiply [extrapolate] that to get the number of non-citizens who actually registered statewide,” Horne said.
But Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell said Horne’s numbers aren’t accurate.
She agreed there are a couple of hundred instances each year in which the county jury commissioner notifies her that someone has stated on a jury form that he or she is not a citizen. But Purcell said not all of those are cases involve a person who is illegally registered to vote, much less one who has illegally cast a ballot.
“The jury summons is a combination of voter registration and driver’s licenses,” she said, explaining that an individual does not have to be a registered voter to be summoned for jury duty. “They may go to some people that have a driver’s license and are not citizens but are legal aliens.”
If they are registered to vote, Purcell said she immediately removes them from the registration rolls.
If they actually are citizens and lied in order to avoid being summoned for jury duty — which Purcell said happens regularly — they can re-register.
If Purcell determines someone has registered and voted illegally, she forwards the case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for prosecution. She didn’t know the exact numbers of such cases, but said they amount to a handful each year.
“I don’t see it as a big problem,” she said. “We send very few to the County Attorney’s Office.”
People lie to get out of jury duty all the time. This is a separate offense for which they can be charged (but rarely ever are).
Earlier this year the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, headed by Democratic lawyer Bob Bauer and Republican lawyer Ben Ginsberg, released its report (.pdf) to the public. This line in the report is notable: “Fraud is rare, but when it does occur, absentee ballots are often the method of choice.” (Page 56.)
This is the double-voting problem by “snowbirds” who vote in Arizona and their home state. It is not non-citizens voting in elections, as Horne falsely claims.
Arizona Secretary of State Ken “Birther Bennett testified to Congress in December 2012 that “Arizona has prosecuted 15 cases of voter fraud in the last 18 months or so. Those cases all stemmed from people who double-voted in prior presidential elections in both Arizona and another state.” The Arizona Republic (December 19, 2012).
Instead of focusing on Latinos, whom Horne is race-baiting by insinuating suspicion that Latinos are non-citizens voting, we should be focusing our attention on Grandma and Grandpa “snowbirds” who winter in Arizona from out of state. Just sayin’.
In 2012, a News21 analysis of 2,068 alleged election-fraud cases since 2000 showed that while fraud has occurred, the rate is infinitesimal, and in-person voter impersonation on Election Day, which prompted 37 state legislatures to enact or consider tough voter ID laws, is virtually non-existent. Comprehensive Database of US Voter Fraud Uncovers No Evidence That Photo ID Is Needed.
Tom Horne is a rank embarrassment to to the legal profession and to Arizona. He is miserably incompetent and unqualified for the job of Attorney General. Arizona needs a competent, qualified, and ethical Attorney General: Felecia Rotellini.