Jury indicts 18 in fake elector scheme to re-elect Trump

A grand jury has indicted 18 people on charges that they took part in an Arizona fake elector scheme to re-elect then-US president Donald Trump in 2020, the state’s attorney general said.

The court papers list a “former US president,” presumably Mr Trump, as an unindicted co-conspirator.

The indictment is redacted to conceal the name of seven defendants, in addition to the 11 who were named.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a press release announcing the charges that those names would be made public after all of the defendants had been served.

Electors are people chosen to formally cast a state’s electoral votes in the US Electoral College system used in presidential elections.