Arizona woman gets 30 days in jail for collecting 4 ballots

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By BOB CHRISTIE

PHOENIX (AP) — A southwestern Arizona woman who pleaded guilty to collecting four early ballots in the 2020 primary was sentenced Thursday to 30 days in jail and two years’ probation, with the judge saying he did not think she had accepted responsibility for her crime.

The sentence for Guillermina Fuentes, a 66-year-old school board member and former mayor of the small border city of San Luis, caps a lengthy case that caught the eye of investigators the day of the August 2020 primary and eventually led to charges against Fuentes and another San Luis woman.

Republicans who question former President Donald Trump’s loss in Arizona and other battleground states seized on the case as evidence of widespread voter fraud, even though it came in the primary and is the sole case of “ballot harvesting” ever prosecuted in the state.

Yuma County Superior Court Judge Roger Nelson told Fuentes that despite a parade of character witnesses and her lawyer’s plea that she be spared from jail, she had not accepted responsibility.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/elections-arizona-voting-donald-trump-primary-0b9d9a133fd0c370a195fa9264caa645?utm_source=Connatix&utm_medium=HomePage

[PatSeg]

1. Wow, that was brutal

[jimfields33]

2. I'm Surprised a former mayor would do such a thing.

She more than anybody knows better.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

4. "Would do such a thing"?

It's not even illegal in most states, and the fact this is illegal in the first place in AZ is a travesty.

This was a political persecution by RWNJ's and election deniers.

Fuck this.

[Kaleva]

7. It'd illegal in Michigan , Massachusetts, New Hampshire and some other states

11 states, including the ones I mentioned above, specify which people may return a ballot for a voter.

https://ballotpedia.org/Ballot_harvesting_laws_by_state

[jimfields33]

10. Doesn't matter. It's illegal there. Get the law changed.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

22. You can go ahead and imply support of voter-suppression laws passed by rabid AZ RePuQ's

And signal your 100% strictly-law-abiding nature under their regime if it suits you.

We oft-agree you and me Jim, but on this one ... I'm not gonna.

Philosophically, in my world, with 100% victimless 'crimes' (and this is TRULY that), nobody should go to jail.

[Conjuay]

26. think about what you are saying...

I immediatly thought of another former mayor -I t5hink the name was Ruby Ghouly-annie.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

3. Fuck that judge, what she did shouldn't even BE a crime, and I'm glad if she didn't

'accept responsibility' to his satisfaction, cause the whole thing is bullshit.

[mjvpi]

5. I agree. Damn she helped four people to vote.

[Polybius]

12. It shouldn't, but it is

I wouldn't put too much blame the judge. His hands were tied.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

13. Fair point, he had to 'do something' ... but is prison time required under the law? nt

[tirebiter]

6. Did she?

Those votes are in evidence. The individuals may get their votes in by other means but this doesn’t help any.

[Puppyjive]

8. Judge is a piece of shit

Wow. Has it come down to throwing people in jail for delivering ballots? I don't care what party you belong to, if you need someone to deliver your ballot, so be it. If she can be forced to jail, it's high time Trump gets punished for his horrific crimes.

[Kaleva]

9. I'm not going to support an elected official who breaks the law

I'll leave that to Magahats and others.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

14. Did you support Obama?

He smoked pot, back when it was illegal everywhere in the USA.

[Kaleva]

16. Was he an elected official at the time?

And if had been an elected official at the time, got arrested and sentenced to jail, I wouldn't have posted support for him.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

18. So, her being a school board member in a microscopic district is the tipping point for you, is it?

You read this part?

Fuentes collected the four completed mail ballots from acquaintances in San Luis, and gave them to co-defendant Alma Juarez while working a table outside a polling place where she was urging people to vote for a slate of city council candidates. Juarez carried them inside and put them in a ballot drop-off bin.

Election officials in Yuma County confirmed that the ballots were legitimate and the mail-ballot envelopes were signed by qualified voters, so they were counted.

San Luis does not deliver mail to residents, many of whom earn low incomes and do not own cars, making trips to the post office a challenge, according to the Arizona Voter Empowerment Task Force, a group of attorneys and advocates for people facing legal issues over voting or helping others case ballots.

And this part?

Republicans who question former President Donald Trump's loss in Arizona and other battleground states seized on the case as evidence of widespread voter fraud, even though it came in the primary and is the sole case of “ballot harvesting” ever prosecuted in the state.

The reich-wing has spun this innocuous occurrence into a giant 'voter-fraud' conspiracy theory in AZ.

I say F-that, and I support Fuentes NOT going to jail. Probation was acceptable punishment as it technically is against the law, but victimless, no chicanery, she basically did the job of the postal service (which they don't have there apparently).

I support her.

[Kaleva]

20. You are free to express support for elected officials who commit a crime

I'm not going to give a shit about her serving time in jail . Just because s person is a Democratic doesn't mean they are above the law.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

23. I guess we'll agree to disagree then (nt)

[maxsolomon]

11. 100% mail-in voting solves this.

You put your ballot in your mailbox and the mailman collects it.

Works perfectly well in Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Washington State.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

15. Postage Pre-Paid on return is a key factor ...

Which, last election at least for sure, AZ did so. I forget if I ever had to put stamps on them prior to 2020.

AZ also has no-reason-req'd 'mail-in voting'.

So while there's not actually a reason to violate the law in this way here, technically, it's also a garbage law to begin with, with no actual victim (assuming the ballot is faithfully delivered intact).

Even though it's on the books, a law like this should be leveraged only when there's chicanery involved. Otherwise it's really just another tool to suppress turnout.

[maxsolomon]

17. Right, and here the law is leveraged against a minority

Quelle suprise.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

19. First time EVER enforced in the State of AZ ... and it was a PRIMARY

Probation is more than enough, come on ...

[maxsolomon]

24. Just saw that the USPS doesn't serve San Luis?

What the actual fuck.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

25. If the AZCentral article I quoted is true, then yes. There's a post office, but not delivery

according to the account they reported.

I'm a tad skeptical but usually AZCentral's reporting is solid.

[tenderfoot]

21. Gotta love the site's wingnuts coming out in force defending the Judge