- Oct 17, 2011
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A top leader of the national conservative group Turning Point Action, which has amplified false claims of election fraud by former president Donald Trump and others, resigned Thursday after being accused of forging voter signatures on official paperwork so that he could run for reelection in the Arizona House.
State Rep. Austin Smith (R) — who was senior director at Turning Point Action, the campaign arm of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA — was accused by a Democratic activist of submitting petition sheets with rows of voter names, addresses and signatures that “bear a striking resemblance” to Smith’s handwriting, according to a complaint. Smith “personally circulated multiple petition sheets bearing what appear to be forged voter signatures,” the complaint said.
In a statement, the first-term lawmaker said the allegations against him were “silly” and part of a “coordinated attack” by Democrats and “those unhappy with my politics.”
[Smith] has previously derided signature-verification work by local election officials as “a joke.”
Smith said the prospect of costly and public fallout from the allegations shaped his decision to drop out of the race.
“This is a man who has lied to the people of Legislative District 29 and the entire state about our election operations for at least three years,” [Maricopa County Supervisor Clint] Hickman [R] said in a statement. “And now he is accused of lying about the signatures he personally collected to get on the ballot again. An investigation will reveal the truth.”
State Rep. Austin Smith (R) — who was senior director at Turning Point Action, the campaign arm of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA — was accused by a Democratic activist of submitting petition sheets with rows of voter names, addresses and signatures that “bear a striking resemblance” to Smith’s handwriting, according to a complaint. Smith “personally circulated multiple petition sheets bearing what appear to be forged voter signatures,” the complaint said.
In a statement, the first-term lawmaker said the allegations against him were “silly” and part of a “coordinated attack” by Democrats and “those unhappy with my politics.”
[Smith] has previously derided signature-verification work by local election officials as “a joke.”
Smith said the prospect of costly and public fallout from the allegations shaped his decision to drop out of the race.
“This is a man who has lied to the people of Legislative District 29 and the entire state about our election operations for at least three years,” [Maricopa County Supervisor Clint] Hickman [R] said in a statement. “And now he is accused of lying about the signatures he personally collected to get on the ballot again. An investigation will reveal the truth.”
