Convicted Arizona Ballot Harvester Appointed San Luis Vice Mayor Despite Sentence Keeping Her from Public Office

Gloria Torres

San Luis City appointed city Council Member Gloria Torres as the city’s new vice mayor on December 14, 2023, representing her first promotion since her conviction for a misdemeanor ballot harvesting scheme in June of last year. Her colleague and longtime critic, Council Member Gary Garcia Snyder, told The Arizona Sun Times his constituents “are at a loss” following Torres’ appointment.

Torres (pictured above) pleaded guilty to her role in a ballot harvesting scheme after she was indicted following the release of camera footage obtained by Garcia Snyder and David Lara, a San Luis Republican who was elected to a school board seat in 2016, as the result of a “sting” operation.

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Suspected Terrorism Funder Arrested After Being Released into U.S. at Border

Another foreign national who entered the U.S. illegally and was released into the country by the Biden administration had an extensive criminal record and was wanted in Venezuela for financing terrorism.

In April 2021, Border Patrol agents arrested a Venezuelan national for illegal entry near San Luis, Arizona, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was charged with inadmissibility under U.S. immigration law and issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

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Two More Indicted in Yuma Ballot-Harvesting Scheme

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced this week that two more defendants, both from San Luis, have been indicted with felonies for conspiracy and ballot abuse over illegally collecting ballots. 

The indictments allege that Gloria Lopez Torres, a San Luis council member and Gadsden Elementary School District Board (GESD) member, collected seven ballots from Nadia Guadalupe Lizarraga-Mayorquin. The latter collected at least one ballot from a third party. The women put the ballots in ballot drop boxes on August 4, 2020, for the city’s municipal election.

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Yuma County Former Democratic Official and Neighbor Sentenced in Ballot-Harvesting Scheme

The former Democratic mayor of San Luis, Arizona, and a neighbor were sentenced Thursday for their involvement in ballot harvesting. Guillermina Fuentes was sentenced to two years of probation and 30 days in jail. Alma Yadira Juarez, who was caught handling the ballots with the former mayor, was sentenced to a year of probation. 

Prosecutors said Fuentes “appears to have been caught on video running a modern-day political machine seeking to influence the outcome of the municipal election in San Luis.” The documentary 2,000 Mules from filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza and the election integrity group True the Vote spotlighted ballot harvesting in Yuma County, featuring testimony from an anonymous whistleblower there. 

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Former Mayor of San Luis Pleads Guilty to Ballot Harvesting in Arizona 2020 Primary Election

Guillermina Fuentes, the former mayor of San Luis, pleaded guilty this week to illegally collecting early ballots in the 2020 Primary Election as a part of a ballot harvesting scheme.

“Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced that Guillermina Fuentes of San Luis pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of Ballot Abuse, a Class 6 Felony, for her role in an August 2020 Primary Election “ballot harvesting” scheme where early ballots from other voters were collected and deposited into a ballot box on primary Election Day,” according to an Attorney General Office (AGO) press release.

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2,000 Mules Revealed Alleged Massive Ballot Harvesting in Arizona, AG Brnovich Already Prosecuting

Conservative commentator and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza recently released a documentary, 2,000 Mules, which features the work of True the Vote tracking GPS cell phone locations from around the 2020 election period to track what they have named “mules,” people purportedly illegally transporting hundreds of thousands of ballots from left-leaning nonprofits and depositing them in unmonitored drop boxes in several key swing states, including Arizona. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich may have already prosecuted one of the mules discussed in the documentary, a Democratic former official in San Luis, and he is currently litigating in court with Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs over her attempts to allow unmonitored drop boxes in the state Elections Procedures Manual (EPM). 

In the documentary, a whistleblower whose identity is disguised discusses a prominent Democratic official in San Luis — which is a small town of about 25,500 located in Yuma County — who engaged in ballot harvesting and even enlisted her to assist. Last year, Brnovich’s office prosecuted Guillermina Fuentes, who was a previous mayor of San Luis, a Democratic precinct committee person, and a member of the Gadsden Elementary School Board. A grand jury indicted her in December on one count of ballot abuse, also known as ballot harvesting, for collecting four ballots from people and turning them in. She has a change of plea hearing scheduled for June 2.

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Prominent Democratic Official in San Luis, Arizona Indicted on Additional Charges of Ballot Harvesting

A Grand Jury has indicted a prominent Democratic official in the border city of San Luis, Arizona again on charges related to ballot harvesting during the 2020 primary election. Guillermina Fuentes, who is a former mayor of San Luis, a Democratic precinct committee person, and a member of the Gadsden Elementary School Board, was first indicted in December on one count of ballot abuse, also known as ballot harvesting, for collecting four ballots from people and turning them in. She was not authorized to do so since she was not a family member, household member, or caregiver of the voters per Arizona law. 

The new charges of conspiracy, forgery, and an additional ballot abuse count relate to a fifth voter, where she signed the voter’s name on the return envelope and marked their ballot. Alma Juarez, another San Luis resident, was also indicted for ballot abuse in December along with Fuentes. Fuentes has pleaded not guilty. The Democrats of Greater Tucson describe Fuentes as “very politically active and has helped gather signatures for candidates.”

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