Election integrity advocates are applauding both the Yuma County Sheriff’s and Recorder’s offices for working together to actively examine cases of voting fraud from the 2020 General Election as well as a recent pattern of fraudulent voter registration forms leading up to the 2022 Primary Election.
“Our elections have been plagued by fraud and the process gamed by political hacks for too long,” said David Lara, a local business owner and school board member in Yuma County. “I have been fighting against the illegal ballot harvesting mafia and non-profit ballot laundering in Yuma County for the past 20 years and it is high time that those who violate the public trust and cheapen our sacred right to vote – one vote per person – to be brought to justice.”
“I am relieved to see that we have at least one law enforcement official willing to be proactive in protecting the foundation of our Republic by tackling voter fraud and ballot harvesting. As an Army combat veteran and wounded warrior it saddens me to see that the integrity of our elections has been compromised so much,” said Sergio Arellano, Republican activist and election integrity advocate. ”I served alongside those who paid the ultimate price for this country only to have it sabotaged by corrupt officials and politicians on all sides of the spectrum. Sheriff Wilmot and those in Yuma county pursuing this are heroes not only of the taxpayers and citizens of Arizona but of this country. As someone who has testified and proactively pushed to have ballot harvesting outlawed it is a true relief to know that I, alongside other activists, are not alone in this fight.”
“I want anyone convicted of violating our election laws to be prosecuted to the fullest extent,” said Gary Snyder, a Republican candidate for the Arizona House. “We can’t ignore the problem any more or pretend that it doesn’t make a difference if we have only minimally secure elections and sloppy voter rolls. The culprits need to be held responsible as well as the elected officials who allowed the system to become so broken and the system must be fixed before our next election.”
“Our Latino community in South Arizona has been victims of the harvesters, our peoples’ right to vote has been under attack for years by the Grijalva machine. Justice must prevail,” said Congressional District 7 candidate Luis Pozzolo.
As of March 2022, the Yuma County Sheriff’s (YCSO) has 16 voting/registration open cases.
All relevant evidence is being formally documented by the Yuma County Recorder’s Office and further investigated by the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office.
Some examples of voter fraud Yuma County is currently seeing are the following:
- Impersonation fraud: Voting in the name of other legitimate voters and voters who have died or moved away.
- False registrations: Falsifying voter registrations by either using a real or fake name, birth date, or address. This is being done by outreach groups who are paid for each registration form they submit, therefore, are out soliciting voters into unnecessarily re-registering or falsifying forms with Yuma County resident’s identities.
- Duplicate voting: Submitting multiple votes or registering in multiple locations and voting in the same election in more than one jurisdiction or state.
- Fraudulent use of absentee ballots: Requesting absentee ballots and voting without the knowledge of the actual voter; or obtaining the absentee ballot from a voter and either filling it in directly and forging the voter’s signature or illegally telling the voter who to vote for.
Members of the public are advised that if they suspect or witness individuals committing any of the mentioned voting frauds, share their name or any other identifying information to law enforcement immediately.
The majority of voter fraud cases in Yuma County are related to duplicate voting (typically charged as illegal voting and false voter registration). Under Arizona law, illegal voting is a class 5 or class 6 felony. A person found guilty faces up to 2 or 2.5 years in prison, fines, restitution, loss of voting rights, and/or probation.
YCSO and the Yuma County Recorder’s Office advise all Yuma County residents to go directly to the Yuma County Recorder’s Office or Arizona Secretary of State’s Office to register to vote, check their voter registration status and/or update their voter registration in advance of the voter registration deadline of Tuesday, July 5, 2022.
Do not fill out voter registration forms in the community unless it is a County employee as these are being mined for personal information and often take over a month to be submitted to the County Recorder’s Office for processing.
If Yuma County voters find any incorrect information in their current voter registration record, notify the County Recorder’s Office immediately at (928) 373-6034 or [email protected].
Anyone with information regarding voter fraudulent schemes or believe they have been a victim of a fraudulent vote, contact the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office at 928-783-4427 or 78-CRIME to remain anonymous. You can also visit www.yumacountysheriff.org to submit an anonymous tip.
