West Valley legislator withdraws from primary after accusations of petition signature forgery

State Representative Austin Smith, a Republican who represents parts of the West Valley from Luke Air Force Base to Wickenburg, put out a statement on social media withdrawing himself as a candidate for his own seat.

This comes after a lawsuit was filed alleging the freshman lawmaker forged more than one hundred signatures.

Smith joins a list of other wannabe candidates withdrawing from the ballot under claims of problematic signature collection.

Nomination lawsuits are common in Arizona and are successful a little less than half the time. Data from the Secretary of State shows 30 nomination lawsuits were filed last election cycle resulting in 12 candidates being removed from the ballot. This year, 22 challenge suits were filed. They have led to nine candidates dropping out voluntarily.

Drew Chavez is the owner of Petition Partners. He has been involved in signature gathering in Arizona for over 25 years. He says it’s easy for anyone to forge a signature but it’s very difficult to get away with it.

“Forgery normally involves first-time candidates,” Chavez said. “Candidates who just sort of like a means to an end, they know what they need to get on the ballot and that’s what they are going to do.”

A year ago today, Smith filed his statement of interest, a document required before signature collection can begin. Since then he has had to collect about 500 signatures from either Republicans or unaffiliated voters in his West Valley district. The number of signatures required is different for every office and party in the Senate.

County Recorder Stephen Richer manages the voter data used by the courts to verify the validity of collected signatures. He says, for candidates, signature collection is easier today than in years past but still requires some leg work.

“…That means spending lots of times at big events, or going to political clubs, or hanging out at the library or hanging out at the grocery station, and having some uncomfortable conversations with people that you just say, Hey, are you willing to sign my petition? And they say what the heck are you for and what the heck are you about. I understand that's maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but it is something that you have to do as a candidate. Or there are services that will go out and they will collect petitions for you. “

Signature forgery can carry criminal penalties as well. So far this year, the Secretary of State has made 13 referrals to the Attorney General’s Office from 11 different nomination petitions.