Arizona group fakes 11 electors for Trump
'AZ Protect the Vote' are a group of Trump supporters who believe there was fraud in the election
A group in Arizona faked 11 electors in favor of President Donald Trump and tried to have them certified on his behalf.
The Arizona Republic obtained documents from ‘AZ Protect the Vote’ who claim to represent “sovereign citizens of the Great State of Arizona” and submitted faked notarized paperwork that would certify votes cast on behalf of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. President-elect Joe Biden and his running mate, Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, narrowly won the state with 49.4% of the vote compared to 49.1% for Trump and Pence.
Read More: Electors meeting to formally choose Biden as next president
Monday is the day when electors gathered to procedurally certify Biden’s November win. However, USA Today reported that “AZ Protect the Vote” sent falsified electors to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. ahead of Biden’s certification by the electoral college.
Lori Osiecki, 62, helped in the creation of the “certificate of ascertainment” electors because of fears of voter fraud in the recent election.
“We seated before the legislators here. We already turned it in. We beat them to the game,” she said.
Members of ‘AZ Protect the Vote’ have taken to heart Trump’s unfounded allegations that rampant voter fraud cost him a second term. Osiecki has attended rallies spearheaded by Rudy Giuliani in Phoenix and was upset that Gov. Doug Ducey was not more supportive of the effort.
Osiecki and the other members opted to take matters into their own hands and chose electors that are usually picked by Arizona voters. Osiecki insisted she’d done her own research to vindicate interfering in the process.
“I’ve never been in politics before,” she said. “I’m not crazy. I’m just a person who feels like there’s a problem here. We’re at that (1776) moment here. It’s the little people who are going to matter. You can’t sit on the sidelines anymore.”
Read More: Critics of Electoral College push for popular vote compact
The forged electors were not accepted and It is not yet clear if any state or federal laws were broken. The Biden/Harris win was formally recognized when Arizona cast their 11 electors for them. The votes were signed by the proper electors.
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs expressed frustration that the gathering of electors had turned into a spectacle and one with threats of violence.
“This year’s proceeding … has unfortunately had an artificial shadow cast over it in the form of baseless accusations of misconduct and fraud, for which no proof has been provided and which court after court has dismissed as unfounded,” Hobbs said.
It was not just in Arizona where electors were disturbed. Michigan cast their 16 ballots for Biden but the capital was closed to the public due to a “credible threat of violence,” as House members were warned not to come to work. At one point, a group demanded to be let into the building where the voting of electors was taking place.
“We’re electors!” a person demanded.
“The electors are already here,” an officer who was guarding the Capitol responded. “They’ve been checked in.”
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