A Republican candidate for the U.S. House from Arizona this week claimed that his opponents are busing Mexicans over the border to vote illegally in Arizona.
Jesse Kelly, who is challenging Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) in the eighth district, said on the Mark Levin radio show Wednesday in a response to a question about “dirty tricks” that there are “rumors” of Mexicans being brought into vote.
“There are rumors. People have video of them busing people across from the southern border. We’re a border district,” Kelly said. “They literally bus people across from Mexico to have them vote at the polls on Election Day, give them a meal and then bus them back. It’s been done in the past. So we’re really fighting against it down there. But it just means more of us have to vote.”
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Reached this morning, a spokesman for Kelly’s campaign downplayed the remarks, saying it’s “not the centerpiece of our campaign.” The spokesman, John Ellinwood, said Kelly meant that such activity has happened in the past, but the campaign hasn’t had any reports of it happening so far this year.
“It would be on Election Day,” Ellinwood said.
The Giffords campaign, which sent the above clip to reporters, said in a statement, “If Mr. Kelly has evidence of systematic voter fraud, he has a responsibility to come forward with it, not just use it for talk radio fear mongering.”
The secretary of state’s office says they haven’t seen any evidence of the sort.
“We’ve seen no evidence of that allegation,” a spokesman told AZ Central. “It’s almost become a kind of urban legend in Arizona. In terms of specific instances, we haven’t seen it.”
A Nexis search did not turn up such reports. Arizona law requires voters show ID at the polls. A federal appeals court this week struck down a law that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote.
