Did Sarah Palin Just Commit Election Fraud in Arizona?

Crosscut's Arizona bureau chief Ted van Dyk was in Prescott, AZ over Memorial Day weekend, where he may have gotten a bigger scoop than he realizes. According to van Dyk, none other than Sarah Palin made an appearance Friday night at Prescott's historic Courthouse Square, and it sure does sound like Palin crossed the line from electioneering to election fraud:

A friend of ours, the insurgent/reform candidate for mayor, running against the good-ole-boy GOP incumbent, approached Palin and asked that she sign her mayoral petititon. Palin did so (even though, as a non-resident, her signature would of course be disqualified).

As Darryl at my alma mater HA points out, Palin's signature would not just be disqualified, it would be illegal. Indeed, according to Title 16 of the Arizona Revised Statutes:

16-1020. Signing of petitions; violation; classification A person [...] who is not at the time of signing a qualified elector entitled to vote at the election initiated by the petition, is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.

I suppose, perhaps, Palin is a "qualified elector," in that she has quietly switched her residence and voter registration to Arizona, which would be awfully big news. Though I'd wager Palin is not a "qualified elector," and thus committed election fraud, which should be even bigger news. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, and all that.

And considering that Republican controlled legislatures are in the process of narrowing voting rights nationwide in the name of cracking down on nonexistent election fraud, you'd think this proven case of fraud committed by a GOP standard bearer would garner a little national attention, right?