Republican Kari Lake may soon be under investigation for posting photos of voter signatures to Twitter.
Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes referred Lake to Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes over Lake posting a graphic asking, “Do you think these ballot signatures match???” with several photos of voter signatures.
Fontes asked for “further investigation” and “possible prosecution” for what he claims is a violation of Arizona Statute 16-168(F).
“The protections afforded by this subsection prohibit posting any information derived from voter registration forms or precinct registers to the internet, and under no circumstance may a person other than the voter or a statutorily authorized person reproduce a voter’s signature,” Fontes wrote in a letter on Monday. “A violation of this provision is a Class 6 felony.”
A class 6 felony is the lowest level in Arizona and typically carries a short prison sentence if convicted if it is not negotiated down to a misdemeanor, according to Gaxiola & Litwak Law Group.
It’s now up to Mayes to decide whether or not Lake should face an investigation, but the former gubernatorial candidate’s attorney said that she did nothing wrong by sharing the signatures.
“This is becoming all too common in politics – another attempt to weaponize the justice system with a phony allegation against a Republican,” attorney Tim LaSota said in a statement. “Adrian Fontes selectively quotes the statute in an attempt to distort the law and smear Kari Lake in the process. Kris Mayes should immediately say that she will have no part in this shameful, disgusting effort.”
“This information came from the Arizona Senate investigation on acceptance of clearly mismatched signatures on early ballots, and Kari Lake has an absolute right under the First Amendment to republish the information presented to the Senate,” LaSota continued.
The Republican lost the November general election to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and later contested the election in court, as two of 10 counts made it to trial. The civil court case ultimately confirmed Hobbs’ win, but Lake’s team appealed the December ruling.
Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
