How often is someone caught on film filling in someone else’s ballot? This illustrates how difficult it can be to catch this type of vote fraud. An Arizona Democrat, Guillermina Fuentes, a 66-year-old school board member and former mayor of the border town of San Luis, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail because of her involvement in a local ballot harvesting scheme during a 2020 municipal election. She was also placed on two years of probation.
Earlier this year, Fuentes, alongside her associate Alma Juarez, pleaded guilty to one count each of ballot abuse. She was accused of illegally collecting early ballots from four individuals who were not her family members during the August 2020 primary. This is just what the plea bargain involved, so what she did was undoubtedly worse and this is what was caught on film. The headlines in the news media attempt to minimize this case by putting in the fact that the plea involved only four ballots. For example, from the Washington Post: “Arizona woman gets 30 days in jail for collecting 4 ballots.” ABC News: “Arizona woman gets 30 days in jail for collecting 4 ballots.”
From Arizona’s Attorney General’s office:
A group of subjects, lead by Guillermina Fuentes were seen on video manning a table and appearing to be supporting particular candidates. Fuentes is seen on the video accepting a ballot from another female. It appears that after she receives the ballot, Fuentes makes some markings on the ballot, seals the envelope, then takes what appear to be several other ballot envelopes from the table and proceeds to the polling place with the second female carrying the ballots. . . .
In the video, it is clear that the ballot envelope was unsealed. Fuentes was observed to pick up a pen or pencil and write on the ballot envelope. She then pulls the ballot out of the envelope and makes three marks consistent with the filling in of spaces on a ballot to make a candidate selection. Fuentes put the ballot back in the envelope and sealed it. She then retrieved several more ballot envelopes from a folder on the table and handed them to Juarez. Juarez then walks toward the polling location. . . .
“STATE OF ARIZONA OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS SECTION REPORT,” October 27, 2020.
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