Petition collector indicted for falsifying signatures on Arizona abortion measure
Numbers would have had no impact on measure making the ballot, passing, officials said
An abortion-rights activist at the National Women’s March on Phoenix signs a petition Saturday to put an initiative on the November ballot to preserve abortion rights in the Arizona constitution. On petition circulator has been charged with falsifying signatures in that effort, though not enough to call it into question, officials said. (Photo by Marnie Jordan/Cronkite News)
Marnie Jordan
A petition circulator working on the effort to place an abortion measure on the ballot for the 2024 election has been indicted for falsifying dozens signatures, though officials said the number would not have made a difference in the collection or the item appearing on the ballot.
Anthony Harris, 53, was charged with one count of aggravated taking identity of another, one count of fraudulent schemes and practices, one count of circulator registration violation, and 10 counts of petition false signatures, according to a press release from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
Harris registered as a circulator in April 2024 for the effort for Proposition 139, which sought to enshrine abortion rights into the Arizona Constitution. Past convictions should have made him ineligible to work as a collector, and investigators said numerous signatures he collected were false, according to MCAO.
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Petition collector indicted for falsifying signatures on Arizona abortion measure
Numbers would have had no impact on measure making the ballot, passing, officials said
Marnie Jordan
An abortion-rights activist at the National Women’s March on Phoenix signs a petition Saturday to put an initiative on the November ballot to preserve abortion rights in the Arizona constitution. On petition circulator has been charged with falsifying signatures in that effort, though not enough to call it into question, officials said. (Photo by Marnie Jordan/Cronkite News)
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Independent Newsmedia
A petition circulator working on the effort to place an abortion measure on the ballot for the 2024 election has been indicted for falsifying dozens signatures, though officials said the number would not have made a difference in the collection or the item appearing on the ballot.
Anthony Harris, 53, was charged with one count of aggravated taking identity of another, one count of fraudulent schemes and practices, one count of circulator registration violation, and 10 counts of petition false signatures, according to a press release from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
Harris registered as a circulator in April 2024 for the effort for Proposition 139, which sought to enshrine abortion rights into the Arizona Constitution. Past convictions should have made him ineligible to work as a collector, and investigators said numerous signatures he collected were false, according to MCAO.
The number of fraudulent signatures submitted by Harris would not have made a difference in whether the initiative qualified for the ballot. Prop 139 had enough valid signatures to be placed on the ballot and it passed, MCAO said in the release.
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