Dustin Gardiner | The Republic | azcentral.com

Carly Henry, The Republic | azcentral.com

Jack Kurtz/The Republic

In forgery schemes, some names are plain unwise to attempt to fake if one hopes to avoid detection.

Likely chief among them is Maria Brnovich, the mother of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, the state's top prosecutor whose office often is tasked with investigating fraud rings.

But in another bizarre twist in the scandal enveloping a race for the Arizona Senate, the elder Brnovich's name is among hundreds that apparently were forged on Mark Syms' candidate nominating petitions.

Syms is an independent running for state Senate in Legislative District 28, but he could be removed from the ballot over allegations that many of his qualifying petitions are phony.

Mark Brnovich didn't take kindly to his mother being among the voters who say their names were signed without their consent or knowledge.

Brnovich 'disturbed and disappointed'

"I learned this weekend that my mother's signature had been forged by an individual collecting signatures for a campaign, and I'm deeply disturbed and disappointed," Brnovich said in a prepared statement Monday.

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The attorney general also expressed dismay given his mother, an immigrant from the former Yugoslavia, came to the U.S. to escape a communist state with rigged elections.

"My mother fled a government and system that didn't value free and fair elections," he said. "If the attorney general's mother can fall victim to petition fraud, this shows the unfortunate truth that it can happen to anyone."

Syms, a prominent doctor, has asserted he is the "victim of fraud" on the part of a company hired to gather his signatures.

Syms' campaign declined to respond directly to concerns about Maria Brnovich's name on his petitions. He is expected to be in court Tuesday for a hearing on a lawsuit challenging his place on the ballot.

"We are not going to litigate this through the media," Syms said in a prepared statement. "We look forward to having people under oath in court."

Lawsuit challenges 'forgeries'

Arizona Secretary of State

Earlier this month, The Arizona Republic reported that dozens of voters listed as signatories on Syms’ nomination petitions said they did not, in fact, sign the forms.

Syms is running in one of the state's most hotly contested races. District 28 is a swing district that encompasses parts of north-central Phoenix, Arcadia, Biltmore and Paradise Valley.

The controversy escalated last week when Robert McGee, the husband of incumbent Republican state Sen. Kate Brophy McGee — Syms' chief rival in the Senate race — filed a lawsuit alleging widespread fraud.

Candidates in Arizona must collect signatures from voters to appear on the ballot. McGee alleges at least 914 of the 2,156 signatures Syms submitted are "forgeries."

The lawsuit argues other signatures are invalid because they lack addresses, actual dates, legible names or otherwise don't meet legal requirements. In total, the lawsuit claims at least 1,676 signatures are invalid due to forgery or other issues.

In District 28, an independent candidate must submit at least 1,250 to qualify for the ballot.

Maria Brnovich's signature is among about 800 collected for Syms by a petition circulator named Clifford Curry. On the forms, Curry listed his address as 232 S. 12th Ave. in Phoenix, which is a downtown homeless shelter.

If the attorney general's mother can fall victim to petition fraud, this shows the unfortunate truth that it can happen to anyone. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich

He signed required forms attesting that eligible voters signed the petitions in his presence, including those that appear forged. The Republic has been unable to locate Curry.

Syms' campaign said he hired a signature collecting firm owned by Larry Herrera, a school board member who previously ran for Legislature but dropped out after forgery allegations involving his campaign.

Herrera hasn't responded to repeated requests for comment.

Related AG investigation possible

Mark Brnovich's office hasn't opened an investigation on the matter of Syms' petition signatures and hasn't received a complaint about the issue, according to spokesman Ryan Anderson.

But the attorney general's staff is reviewing another matter involving Herrera.

Herrera dropped out of a race for the Legislature earlier this year after county elections officials said he submitted invalid forms seeking public financing for his campaign.

According to county officials, Herrera filed forms that included the signatures of several dead people. Other signatures with his forms didn't match voter registrations.

Last week, the director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission sent a letter to the attorney general, asking that Herrera's forms receive further scrutiny.

Anderson confirmed Monday that the office's criminal and civil divisions are reviewing the complaint.