President Donald Trump supporters tried stealing Arizona’s 11 electoral votes last week by delivering fake notarized documents to the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Copies of documents obtained by the Arizona Republic show a group claiming to represent the “sovereign citizens of the Great State of Arizona” whom last week had submitted signed paper ballots voting for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
Mesa resident Lori Osiecki, 62, reportedly helped replicate the “certificate of ascertainment” submitted to formally cast each state’s electoral votes, claiming it was part of an effort to prevent what she believes is fraudulent theft of the election.
“We seated before the legislators here. We already turned it in. We beat them to the game,” Osiecki said.
Osiecki said she and other Trump supports had joined with a group called “AZ Protect the Vote,” protesting in rallies and taking further action upon disappointment in Gov. Doug Ducey (R-Arizona) and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani for not doing more to help.
She and others congregated and chose electors after a day-long meeting in Phoenix that included Ducey and Giuliani.
“One thing I will say about conservatives is if something is wrong, and we have lost – a true loss – then we accept. We’re not going to drag people through the mud and fight it,” she said. “But this clearly has got issues. I saw it with my own eyes and my own research. After that hearing, I was shocked we didn’t have any other marching orders.”
Meanwhile, last month, Arizona voters chose the 11 electors, who cast their votes Monday for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, formalizing the Democrats’ victory nationally and in the state.
