PHOENIX (AP)– Arizona county election officials have actually identified less than 200 cases of potential voter scams out of more than 3 million tallies cast in last years presidential election, more discrediting former President Donald Trumps claims of a stolen election as his allies continue a challenged tally evaluation in the states most populated county.An Associated Press investigation discovered 182 cases where issues were clear enough that authorities referred them to detectives for further evaluation. Of the four Arizona cases that have resulted in criminal charges, two involved Democratic voters and two included Republicans.APs review supports statements made by numerous state and regional elections officials– and even some Republican county officials and GOP Gov. Doug Ducey– that Arizonas presidential election was secure and its results valid.And still, Arizonas GOP-led state Senate has for months been performing what it explains as a “forensic audit” of results in Phoenixs Maricopa County. The bulk of cases identified so far include people casting a ballot for a relative who had actually died or people who attempted to cast 2 ballots.In addition to the APs review of county election offices, an Election Integrity Unit of the state attorney generals workplace that was developed in 2019 to ferret out fraud has actually been examining prospective cases of scams. The case was sent to the county lawyers office, which forwarded it to the state attorney general.Virtually all the cases determined by county election authorities are in Pima County, home to Tucson, and involved citizens who attempted to cast two ballots.The Pima County Recorders Office has a practice of referring all cases with even a hint of prospective fraud to district attorneys for review, something the states 14 other county recorders do not do. Prosecutors filed no citizen fraud cases after the 2016 election and just one after the 2018 election, and that case was later dismissed, Watson said Friday.

PHOENIX (AP)– Arizona county election authorities have actually determined less than 200 cases of prospective citizen fraud out of more than 3 million ballots cast in last years presidential election, further discrediting former President Donald Trumps claims of a taken election as his allies continue a contested ballot review in the states most populous county.An Associated Press investigation discovered 182 cases where issues were clear enough that authorities referred them to detectives for further review. Up until now, only 4 cases have actually resulted in charges, consisting of those recognized in a separate state examination. Nobody has been founded guilty. No individuals vote was counted twice.While its possible more cases might emerge, the numbers illustrate the implausibility of Trumps claims that fraud and abnormalities in Arizona cost him the states electorate votes. In final, certified and audited results, Biden won 10,400 more votes than Trump out of 3.4 million cast. APs findings align with previous studies showing voter scams is unusual. Various safeguards are built into the system to not only avoid scams from occurring however to discover it when it does. “The truth of the matter is that election authorities throughout the state are extremely invested in helping to guarantee the integrity of our elections and the publics self-confidence in them,” said Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat. “And part of that involves taking potential citizen fraud seriously.”Arizonas potential cases likewise show another reality: Voter fraud is frequently bipartisan. Of the 4 Arizona cases that have resulted in criminal charges, 2 involved Democratic voters and 2 involved Republicans.APs review supports declarations made by many state and regional elections officials– and even some Republican county authorities and GOP Gov. Doug Ducey– that Arizonas governmental election was protected and its results valid.And still, Arizonas GOP-led state Senate has actually for months been performing what it explains as a “forensic audit” of results in Phoenixs Maricopa County. The effort has been challenged by election professionals and dealt with bipartisan criticism, however some Republicans, including Trump, have suggested it will reveal evidence of prevalent fraud.”This is not a massive problem,” said Adrian Fontes, a Democrat who oversaw the Maricopa County election office during the 2020 election and lost his re-election bid. “It is a lie that has established with time. Its been fed by conspiracy theorists.”The AP tallied the potential cases after sending public record demands to all Arizona counties. Most counties– 11 out of 15– reported they had forwarded no potential cases to local district attorneys. The bulk of cases determined up until now involve people casting a tally for a relative who had passed away or people who attempted to cast 2 ballots.In addition to the APs evaluation of county election workplaces, an Election Integrity Unit of the state attorney general of the United Statess workplace that was produced in 2019 to search out scams has actually been reviewing possible cases of fraud. A spokesman for Attorney General Mark Brnovich told the AP in April that the unit had 21 active examinations, although he did not define if all were from last fall. A month later, the office prosecuted a lady for casting a ballot on behalf of her dead mom in November. A spokeswoman declined to offer updated details this week. Maricopa County, which goes through the contested ballot review purchased by state Senate Republicans, has actually determined just one case of potential fraud out of 2.1 million ballots cast. That was a voter who might have cast a tally in another state. The case was sent out to the county attorneys office, which forwarded it to the state attorney general.Virtually all the cases determined by county election officials remain in Pima County, home to Tucson, and included voters who attempted to cast 2 ballots.The Pima County Recorders Office has a practice of referring all cases with even a tip of potential fraud to district attorneys for review, something the states 14 other county recorders do refrain from doing. Pima County officials forwarded 151 cases to district attorneys. They did not refer 25 others from voters over age 70 because there was a greater possibility those errors– usually tries to vote two times– were the outcome of memory lapses or confusion, not criminal intent, an election official stated. None of the 176 replicate ballots was counted twice. A spokesman for the Pima County Attorneys Office, Joe Watson, stated that the 151 cases it got were still being examined which no charges had been filed.Pima Countys tally of referrals to district attorneys after in 2015s election was in line with those in 2016 and 2018. District attorneys filed no citizen scams cases after the 2016 election and simply one after the 2018 election, which case was later dismissed, Watson said Friday. However there were some brand-new patterns this year, stated deputy recorder Pamela Franklin. An abnormally high variety of people appeared to have purposefully voted two times, frequently by voting early in individual and then again by mail. In Arizona, where almost 80% of voters cast ballots by mail, its not unusual for someone to forget they returned their mail-in ballot and then later on request a replacement or attempt to enact individual, she said. But this pattern was new. Franklin kept in mind a number of aspects at play, consisting of stress over U.S. Postal Service hold-ups. In addition, Trump at one point encouraged citizens who cast their tallies early by mail to reveal up at their polling places on Election Day and vote once again if poll workers could not confirm their mail ballots had actually been received.The results in Arizona resemble early findings in other battlefield states. Local election officials in Wisconsin determined simply 27 prospective cases of citizen fraud out of 3.3 million ballots cast last November, according to records obtained by the AP under the states open records law. Potential citizen fraud cases in other states where Trump and his allies installed difficulties have up until now totaled up to simply a tiny fraction of Trumps losing margin in those states.The Associated Press conducted the review following months of Trump and his allies declaring without evidence that he had won the 2020 election. His claims of widespread scams have actually been declined by election authorities, judges, a group of election security authorities and even Trumps own lawyer general at the time. Nevertheless, advocates continue to duplicate them and they have actually been cited by state legislators as reason for tighter voting rules across the country.In Arizona, Republican state lawmakers have actually used the dubious claims to validate the unmatched outside Senate evaluation of the election in Maricopa County and to pass legislation that might make it harder for infrequent voters to receive mail tallies automatically.Trump, in a statement, called APs tally an attempt to “discredit the enormous number of citizen irregularities and fraud” in key battlefield states and said the “real numbers” will be launched “soon.” He did not provide any evidence to back up his assertions. Senate President Karen Fann has consistently stated her goal is not to reverse the election results. Rather, she has actually stated she wishes to discover if there were any problems and reveal voters who think Trumps claims whether they must rely on the results. “Everybody keeps saying, Oh, theres no evidence and its like, Yeah well, lets do the audit. And if theres absolutely nothing there, then we say, Look, there was nothing there,” Fann informed the AP in early May. “If we find something, and its a big if, however if we find something, then we can say, OK, we do have proof and now how do we fix this?” Fann did not return calls today to go over the AP findings. Aside from double voting, the cases flagged by officials mainly involved a tally cast after someone had died, consisting of three voters in Yavapai County who face felony charges for casting ballots for partners who died prior to the election. In Yuma County, one case of a voter trying to cast two ballots was sent out to the county lawyer for review. Chief Civil Deputy William Kerekus told the AP that there was no intent at citizen fraud and the case was closed without charges.Cochise County Recorder David Stevens discovered mail-in tallies were received from two citizens who passed away before mail ballots were sent out in early October. Constables deputies examining the cases found their houses were vacant and closed the cases. The votes were not counted. ___ Cassidy reported from Atlanta.