this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2025

601 points (99.3% liked)

News

33281 readers

2633 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil

Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.

2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.

Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.

3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.

Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.

4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.

Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.

5. Only recent news is allowed.

Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.

6. All posts must be news articles.

No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.

7. No duplicate posts.

If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.

8. Misinformation is prohibited.

Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.

9. No link shorteners.

The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.

10. Don't copy entire article in your post body

For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

JonsJava@lemmy.world

gedaliyah@lemmy.world

little_cow@lemmy.world

601

Turning Point leader, former GOP Rep pleads guilty to attempted election fraud (azmirror.com)

submitted 2 days ago by celeste@kbin.earth to c/news@lemmy.world

31 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Former Republican state legislator Austin Smith pleaded guilty Monday to what he previously called “ludicrous” charges that he personally forged more than 100 signatures on his petitions for reelection last year.

top 31 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 89 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Smith pleaded guilty to the reduced charges as part of a plea agreement that gives him the possibility of avoiding a felony conviction. In Arizona law, when a person without a criminal history is found guilty of a low-level felony, the judge can wait until that person’s probation is finished before designating the crime a felony or misdemeanor. Essentially, that means if Smith completes any probation he’s sentenced to without violations, his conviction could be classified a misdemeanor instead of a felony.

And that’s important, because felons in Arizona can’t vote or hold elected office unless their rights are restored by a judge.

Fuck this. He should not be able to see a ballot again in his life.

[–] BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 23 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I'm not really sure that I think disenfranchising anyone is cool, but this rubs me wrong.

[–] mos@lemmy.world 20 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I'm not sure I have a strong opinion for disenfranchising voters, since I believe everyone deserves a right to vote, but there has to be a point at which someone forfeits their own ability to vote? I think cheating the system (and by proxy, other voters) might be a good case for that.

[–] Whostosay@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 days ago

Especially with the intent to cause the amount of destruction that has already been carried out that was known when the crime occurred

[–] Zoomboingding@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

Yeah, campaign fraud is a slice of narrow instances someone should lose their right to participate in democracy.

[–] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Maybe not fully prevent them from voting, but curtail the means by which they can cast a vote to some minimum. For example, require them to cast an in-person ballot at a pre-defined time and location, under court-appointed supervision.

This would be in addition to being prohibited from running, campaigning, volunteering, or doing anything else in the election process besides cast their single vote.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

No American citizen should ever lose their right to vote, for ANY reason, not even incarcerated prisoners. Hell, prisoners probably need governmental representation more than anyone.

These are supposed to be God-given, inalienable rights, according to the Declaration of Independence, so how does a human-conceived entity presume to veto God?

[–] davad@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I think disenfranchising anyone is immoral and counterproductive to a thriving democracy.

But someone who attempted to commit voter fraud should be banned from any position of public trust. Ban him from public office, from the election board, etc. Don't even let him volunteer as a poll worker.

[–] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 2 days ago

Normally, I agree with that stance. However, in attempting to subvert an election, he stands to disenfranchise hundreds if not thousands of peoples' votes. You're more correct, but I hate the idea of someone like this getting the ability to vote for more people like him into power after he's already done something so egregious.

Anyway, I don't disagree with your position, just that this dick weasel is anathema to free and fair elections.

[–] nulluser@lemmy.world 49 points 2 days ago (2 children)

attempted

So, what, it's only actual fraud if you don't get caught? He submitted fraudulent documents. Full stop. He successfully committed fraud.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 32 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Legally, it is attempted fraud. He got caught and it's only "fraud" if the damage is done. But "attempted fraud" isn't nothing and he's getting hit with multiple charges.

The thing we should be mad about is the possibility that he won't have a felony on his record (the judge can decide if it's a felony after his probationary period, as explained in the article)

[–] nulluser@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

collapsed inline media

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

The name of the charge definitely sounds likes it's way less bad but it's only a little less bad lol

[–] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago

Do they give you the Nobel Prize for attempted chemistry?

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 32 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Who's managing the betting pool? What's the Over/Under on a Pardon?

[–] CluelessLemmyng@lemmy.sdf.org 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Considering it's a State level and Arizona Governor is a Dem... Probably close to 0% chance on that.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I like those odds, but I'll bet a Democrat could still figure out to lose.

[–] cashsky@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Just don't let Chuck Schumer anywhere near it

[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

If politics were a card game playing chuck schumer would lose you the game every time.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago

Schmuck Schumer

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 29 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Gaslight obstruct project

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 3 points 2 days ago

Gassy Old Poops

[–] Alph4d0g@discuss.tchncs.de 20 points 1 day ago

Another case of projection re election fraud. We need to pay closer attention to ballot signatures for those protesting a bit too much. I’m sure the opportunities are aplenty.

[–] sirico@feddit.uk 20 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Should be treason for any country that uses a democratic system

[–] 13igTyme@piefed.social 14 points 2 days ago

Turning point leader is a traitorous fraud, that's a real shot in the neck.

[–] shittydwarf@piefed.social 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sweet do Musk next

[–] aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 day ago

and dumpy mcshitpants. I'd love to see both of them go down in flames.

[–] AmericanEconomicThinkTank@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

Who could've ever thought?

[–] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago

NOTADRAGQUEEN

[–] UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Will be pardoned.... For a price

[–] imsufferableninja@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

Pikachu face