As a Scottsdale woman prepares to be sentenced for signing her dead mother’s signature in an effort to cast a ballot in the mother’s name during the 2020 General Election, a Cochise County woman has been indicted for doing the same thing, Arizona Daily Independent has confirmed.
Tracey Kay McKee pleaded guilty Jan. 26 to attempted illegal voting, a felony, for mailing in the early ballot belonging to her mother, who died Oct. 5, 2020. McKee will be sentenced March 2, at which time she will be placed on probation for a period of time to be determined by a Maricopa County judge.
Meanwhile, a Feb. 7 hearing has been set for Krista M. Conner in Cochise County Superior Court after she was indicted by a state grand jury for one count of Illegal Voting. The charge involves the submission of an early voting ballot in the name of her mother, who died in September 2020, just a few weeks before the ballots were mailed out for the general election.
Conner, who resides in the rural community of Cochise, was also indicted for allegedly signing her mother’s name on the early ballot envelope under penalty of perjury. The felony perjury charge was included by the grand jury despite the fact Conner reportedly had a power of attorney for her mother, who lived in Sierra Vista.
According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, it is illegal for any person to use a power of attorney as a basis to conduct any transaction concerning elections. This includes activities such as voter registration, petition circulation or signature, voter registration cancellation, early ballot requests, and voting another person’s ballot.
By the time Conner’s mother’s ballot was mailed in, the voter registration system used by Cochise County Recorder David Stevens had been updated to reflect the death. This ensured the mother’s ballot was never tabulated.
After the election, Stevens contacted the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office about the situation before referring the matter to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. In a statement provided on Tuesday, Stevens said it was good to see that the process works.
“If you vote illegally you will be caught and prosecuted,” Stevens said after learning of Conner’s indictment. “I hope this sends a clear message not to commit felony voter fraud.”
Although the state’s 15 county recorders receive periodic updates from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office of possible voter deaths, it takes time to verify whether a deceased person is in fact registered to vote in a particular county.
MORE ABOUT THE VOTER FRAUD CASES HERE
According to McKee’s plea agreement, she will have to serve at least 100 hours of community service as a condition of probation. She could also be required by Judge Margaret LaBianca to serve time in the Maricopa County jail, although the prosecutor has stipulated any jail time be limited to 90 days, if imposed.