Questions raised about Arizona ballot harvesting from nursing homes

One woman has since passed away, yet someone at the registered address has used her ballots to vote in the last 4 elections

Among the many mostly vitriolic comments left by readers of the AZDI article: Arizona primary ballot box stuffing caught on tape, one told a simple truth. A commenter, going by the name of Nelson wrote, “CBA helps collect absentee ballots from nursing homes, disabled people, and so forth – and have done so FOR YEARS legitimately….”

As is noted in the article mentioned above, under Arizona law, the practice by CBA (Citizens for a Better Arizona) and other groups of collecting tens of thousands of ballots is perfectly legal. The efficacy of it is very high, and according to a recent flier sent to members of the GOP by its chairman Robert Graham, Republicans are now encouraged to engage in the highly effective practice.

So why did the video of the CBA members, stuffing the ballot box full of voter envelopes disturb so many, if it is perfectly legal? Why did it prompt Republican candidate for Arizona Secretary of State’s office Michele Reagan and Maricopa County GOP Chair A.J. LaFaro to call for a change in the law?

One, because Arizona is the only state in which ballot harvesting is lawful. Reagan has called for the strengthening of statutes to eliminate this practice.

Two, we can’t be certain that there are real people behind those ballots. Reagan notes on her website, “It is well established and documented that numerous special interest groups and political field operatives go door-to-door collecting thousands of ballots during the Primary and General elections. These individuals and groups pressure our most vulnerable voters to relinquish their ballot often under the guise of “helping”. Additionally, these individuals have been found to actually “help” the voter complete their ballot.”

We do not know if the “helpers” are raising the voices of those in need of their assistance or if they are exploiting a vulnerable adult. We do not know if they are they helpers, or in some cases – grave diggers.

Many names still on the voter registration rolls

During the summer of 2011, two members of the Maricopa County GOP called 107 independent/assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. The duo inquired as to whether they might provide the centers with a list of people who were registered to vote at their address, in turn the centers would confirm whether or not the resident was still in residence.

The centers agreed to cooperate and the lists of names of those residents no longer living in the facilities were then submitted to the Maricopa County Elections Department.

“Two and a half years later. I checked those lists with the Elections Department’s voter registration information. I was surprised to see so many of the names still on the voter registration rolls and even more concerned to see some still listed as “Active” and some still receiving early ballots,” one of the members told the ADI on Friday.

“In May, 2014, I called the facilities to see if the 48 listed as R (Reactivated) are still residing at their addresses,” continued the confidential GOP source, “The answer to all was ‘No.’”

According to the source, the lists that they gave to the Elections Department were comprised of 1,116 names. They do not claim that in all cases, they were given completely accurate information from the centers. “However, the sources say they were surprised that so many of the names listed as D (Deactivated) still remained on the lists.

“On those lists are some listed as requesting EV (early ballots) and some are listed as having voted 1-5 times during the last 4 elections. We called in late 2011,” says the source. “The last 4 elections would have been 2 in 1012 and 2 in 2010. So the most these folks could have voted would be twice in 2010.”

The duo discovered that nearly 2 years ago, one gentleman was registered under his first and last name, and again under his first, middle, and last name. According to the records, the man had requested early ballots under both names and voted a total of 3 times during the last 4 elections. “He was still listed as Active under both names,” says the source, who has now been assured by staff at the Maricopa County Elections Department that the man was finally contacted by the office and one of the names have been removed.

Across the state, elections departments take extraordinary measures to ensure that voters are not disenfranchised and removed from lists by mistake. In some cases, those measures defy reason and common sense.

Before Elections will remove a name of a voter, postcards are sent to them. If the postcards are returned to an elections department, the voter will continue to receive early ballots if they are on PEVL (Permanent Early Voting List). Little is done to ensure that the person returning the postcard is the person for whom it was intended.

One county elections staffer admitted that if even one letter in a signature looks like the original on file, the benefit of the doubt goes to signatory. In some jurisdictions, the desire to preserve voting rights prevents meaningful closer scrutiny. Few ballots are tossed into the deactivation bin because the signatures were believed to be forgeries.

Chicago isn’t the only place where dead people vote

One case in particular shows what can go wrong with the system. In March, 2014, the source informed elections officials that a married couple from Arizona had moved to another state, but the wife’s name remained on the list to receive a ballots. A whole four years later, the man’s name was marked as deactivated, but the woman’s name remained and someone had voted twice in her name.

Despite ailing health, the victim was eager to cooperate with authorities. Nothing was done to see who actually cast the vote, but finally her name was removed from the voter registration list.

In the case of one Arizona registered voter, her ballots were sent to an address different from where she and her husband were residing. According to the source, the woman has since passed away, yet someone at the registered address has used her ballots to vote in the last 4 elections.

Only recently was her name finally been removed from the voter registration list.

Political predators and harvester reject any reforms

The county recorders across the state had requested that the laws be tightened up to avoid the serious issues regarding multiple ballots, but the law was repealed due to the heavy pressure by groups like CBA, who claimed that the laws targeted minorities and as such, were racist.

Four months ago, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne did pursue the prosecution of a woman who voted in two states. However, Arizona’s Secretary of State has been essentially AWOL on the matter, leaving the elections offices with little guidance and virtually no meaningful oversight. As a result, they appear to act in a manner very contrary to CBA’s claims; they fall all over themselves to avoid purging lists or doing anything that might be construed as disenfranchising eligible voters.

Still, they try to protect the vote from political predators.

On October 23, F. Ann Rodriguez, the Pima County Recorder, issued a press release with a “Stranger Danger advisory” to all voters in Pima County. It read:

“DO NOT give your voted early ballots to a stranger. This warning includes a stranger who is at your front door.

The If voters are being contacted by phone by individuals representing various organizations asking if they can pick up your voted ballots at your home and take them to the Post Office or the Recorder’s Office say NO.

If they show up at your door making the offer to take your voted ballots to the Post Office or Recorder’s Office just tell them NO.

You have no idea who these people are. Never give your voted ballot to a stranger.

The Pima County Recorder’s Office does not approve of giving voted ballots to a stranger as there is no guarantee that these individuals are actually taking them to the Post Office or turning them into the Recorder’s Office. Ms. Rodriguez states that you still have plenty of time to mail your voted ballots so that we receive them in our office by Election Day.”

According to Tim Steller, a columnist with the Arizona Daily Star, “This news release, similar to ones Rodriguez has put out in previous elections, ticked off members of a group called Mi Familia Vota, a group formed to increase participation by Latino voters. They go door to door registering voters, helping them sign up on the early-voting list, checking on whether they voted, and collecting ballots if the voter wishes.”

“We don’t want the county recorder to see us as a stranger or any danger,” Mi Familia Vota canvasser Lorena Howard told Steller.

Conclusion

In the attempts to take the sting out of LaFaro’s video and the expose by Project Veritas, in which Democrat operatives are seen on tape celebrating the virtues of voter fraud, the victims of voter fraud are ignored. While there may be instances where a phantom voter is registered, it appears that most of those ballots cast fraudulently once belonged to a real voter.

Some of those real voters are in, or had been in nursing care facilities when their voice was silenced by political predators. They were, or are, members of the greatest generation. And while many, who complain about voter fraud, spew rhetoric about those who spilled blood and sweat to preserve our right to vote, the victims of the fraud noted above were most likely the ones who actually did spill their blood and sweat.

Unfortunately, in order for officials to avoid being called racist, the very people who sacrificed for us are being sacrificed at the altar of political correctness.

Related article:

Arizona primary ballot box stuffing caught on tape

Maricopa ballot harvesting video spurs Reagan, Goddard ad

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