Highlights

A Maricopa County grand jury indicted Neil DeSanti on July 13 on six felony counts, four for false voter registration and two for illegal voting, after finding the north Phoenix Republican registered to vote in 2012 and cast ballots in subsequent elections without ever having his civil rights restored following two felony convictions in 2010 and 2011.

DeSanti, who serves as a Republican precinct committeeman in his north Phoenix legislative district, pleaded guilty to felony endangerment in a 2004 drunk driving case and to felony possession of burglary tools after he and his cousin were caught stealing a metal ramp from a commercial yard near downtown Phoenix. Arizona law requires anyone with two or more felony convictions to petition a court to restore voting rights; it does not happen automatically. DeSanti did not apply until three days after the Arizona Mirror first reported his unrestored status in 2024, the same day he filed nominating petitions for that year's House race.

Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Christina Henderson restored DeSanti's rights in the drunk driving matter but denied his petition in the burglary-tools case. Henderson wrote that she denied the petition because that crime had a victim and occurred while he was on release in the drunk driving case. "Denial is in (the) best interest of public safety," Henderson wrote on July 23, 2024.

The indictment, handed down by a grand jury empaneled by the Arizona Attorney General's Office, charges DeSanti with four class 6 felony counts of false voter registration, covering his initial 2012 registration and updates in 2018, 2020, and 2021, and two class 5 felony counts of illegal voting tied to ballots he cast in November 2024 and November 2025. When Arizonans register to vote, they swear the information they provide is correct; DeSanti's registration declarations stated he was not a convicted felon or that his civil rights had been restored, which was not true. Standard prison terms run one year for a class 6 felony and one and a half years for a class 5, though DeSanti's prior record could support a longer sentence if he is convicted.

Prosecutors did not charge DeSanti for every election in which he voted after 2012, despite a seven-year statute of limitations that would have permitted additional counts. The indictment does not explain the selection.

DeSanti has been a perennial candidate since 2020, running for the Corporation Commission, Phoenix mayor, and the Arizona House of Representatives in District 2 across multiple cycles. He did not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on July 21, 2026, listed as a withdrawn or disqualified candidate. Each of his House campaigns ended before Election Day, including his 2024 bid, which collapsed after a fellow Republican challenged his eligibility on the grounds that he was not legally registered to vote.

While ineligible to cast a ballot himself, DeSanti used social media to promote claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. He praised the work of We the People AZ Alliance, an election denial group, and regularly posted content supporting the Arizona Senate's 2021 partisan audit of Maricopa County ballots. After the 2022 election, he wrote on Facebook that ballot printer and tabulator problems at Maricopa County voting centers were evidence of tampering by what he called "McCain & Democrat collaborators."

The Arizona Attorney General's Office has prosecuted at least six people with prior felony convictions for registering and voting without restored rights since 2021. In one comparable case, Kenneth Russell Nelson was indicted on four felonies for registering in 2018 and voting in the 2018 and 2020 elections without restored rights; he pleaded guilty to attempted illegal voting. In 2024, the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Kyle Anthony Clark on similar charges and ruled that prosecutors need not prove a defendant knew they were ineligible, only that they were ineligible and voted anyway.

DeSanti did not respond to requests for comment from the Mirror, and it was not immediately clear whether he had retained an attorney. His arraignment date has not been publicly announced.

Sources

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  1. azmirror.com retrieved 21/07/2026 23:49

Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 21/07/2026 23:49. Every claim traces to a source.