Scottsdale Pair Indicted of Voter Fraud

PHOENIX – As Arizona’s chief elections officer, Secretary of State Ken Bennett today announced another indictment of voter fraud.  Last Friday, March 4th, 2011 Peter Canova and Gina Thi Canova of Scottsdale were charged with 15 counts of voter fraud including false registrations, illegal voting and filing false instruments.  The violations are class 5 and class 6 felonies and each count is punishable by up to 2.5 years in prison.

“Aggressively pursing voter fraud sends the message that Arizona will not tolerate those seeking to illegally influence our elections,” said Secretary Bennett.  “Through a cross-state program, we are able to find instances of people voting in different states in the same election.  While the program was originally intended to purge voter rolls of inaccurate data, it has also given us another tool to combat voter fraud.”

According to court documents, Peter and Gina Canova both face charges of voting more than once in a single election by casting their ballots in the November 4, 2008 General Election in Maricopa County, Arizona and Douglas County, Nevada. 

Under the direction of Secretary Bennett, Arizona has joined with more than a dozen other states to exchange voter registration and voter history information with election officials.  This program was designed to help keep voter rolls accurate and up-to-date.

Last year, this same program led to the conviction of a voter from Green Valley who voted both in Arizona and Kansas. 

“When we find the rare instance of voter fraud, rest assured we are vigorously prosecuting the offenders to the fullest extent of the law,” continued Bennett.  “Ensuring that our elections are fair and accurate requires that we remain vigilant and take advantage of the tools available that help us root out schemes that undermine our electoral process.  The issues facing Arizona’s voters are far too important to be casual with our efforts to secure the ballot box.”

To view the indictment, visit: http://1.usa.gov/hzQ1M5.