The state Democratic Party is alleging possible voter fraud in what it called a scheme to undermine its candidates by recruiting "sham" Green Party hopefuls.

In a complaint filed late Monday, the party seeks an investigation by federal, state and county law-enforcement officials.

The complaint names Rep. Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix; Steve May, a Republican candidate for the Legislature; and a House Republican staffer as complicit in an effort to register at least a half-dozen people as Green Party members so they could run as write-in candidates in last week's primary election.

Republicans accused of the ploy denied any wrongdoing.

Under state election law, it only takes one write-in vote for a person to qualify as a Green candidate on the Nov. 2 general-election ballot.

The newly minted Green candidates have been disavowed by the Arizona Green Party and are running in races in which Democrats are believed to be competitive. Those races include secretary of state, treasurer, Arizona Corporation Commission and several legislative contests in swing districts.

A Green candidate is believed to be attractive to Democrat-leaning voters and could pull votes away from Democrats, which would benefit Republicans. That was evident two years ago in a legislative race in which a Green candidate drew enough votes to, in the Democrats' eyes, deny Rep. Jackie Thrasher's re-election bid.

"The evidence is compelling," said Democratic Party spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson. "And it shows an utter disregard for the voters of Arizona."

Those alleged to be part of the scheme denied the charges, saying they are only trying to broaden the political playing field.

Weiers, a former House speaker, called the complaint "cynical" and said people have a right to run under whatever political banner they choose. "If somebody wants to do it," he said of the last-minute registration change, "there's nothing illegal about it. There's nothing immoral."

He acknowledged that he talked to Chris Campbell about his bid to run on the Green Party ticket for state Senate in District 10 but said he did not recruit the recently re-registered Republican. Campbell is the roommate of one of Weiers' daughters.

District 10, which Weiers represents in the House, has a competitive Senate race, as Democratic challenger Justin Johnson seeks to unseat veteran Sen. Linda Gray, R-Phoenix.

Campbell on Monday said he was running at his own initiative and won't wage a campaign.

"I'd just like to get on the ballot," he said.

That contradicts a tape-recorded conversation Democrats turned over to law-enforcement officials, in which Campbell is quoted as saying he was approached by Republicans to run.

In that talk, Campbell tells a male caller - who contacted him to allegedly offer help to his campaign - that "more or less, I'm taking votes away from the Democrats."

The Republic has heard that recording but has been unable to independently verify the participants.

On Monday, Campbell told The Republic that he realized through his own research that it was easier to qualify as a Green than as a Republican, which was why he switched his party registration. That switch happened on the last possible day to qualify for the Aug. 24 ballot as a write-in candidate.

The same is true for Gail Ginger, also a District 10 resident who switched from the GOP to the Green Party on July 15 and filed to run as a state Senate write-in.

On Monday, Ginger said she was dropping out in favor of Campbell, whom she called younger and more enthusiastic.

According to the complaint, Ginger told an unidentified caller to contact Weiers and John Mills, a House GOP staffer, for more information when the caller allegedly said he wanted to see Sen. Gray re-elected.

"I pointed him toward the Republicans I know," Ginger said Monday. "I didn't talk to him about whether this would torpedo the Democrats or not."

She said she did not know who the caller was.

In addition to Campbell and Ginger, a trio of Tempe candidates seeking statewide offices registered as Green Party candidates just before the deadline to file as write-in candidates.

They were recruited by May, a former state lawmaker seeking a comeback in the Legislature. He said Monday that the Democrats see a conspiracy where none exists.

"There is no vast Green-wing conspiracy here," May said.

He said he learned through his own research about the minimal requirements to get on the ballot as a Green Party candidate and that the idea caught on with many of the homeless people he knows on Tempe's Mill Avenue.

May painted their candidacies as an empowering move for a part of the population that is roundly ignored. He denied any coordination with other so-called "sham" Green efforts.

The complaint cites numerous potential criminal violations of state and federal election law, such as deceiving voters by presenting candidates who are posing as Green Party adherents when they really aren't and fixing an election for a candidate's "own benefit or that of another person."