CINCINNATI (AP) – A judge lashed out at a state lawmaker during a court hearing for two women who worked with the politician in an unsuccessful bid to repeal a city ordinance that protects gays and lesbians from discrimination.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman suggested from the bench that state Rep. Tom Brinkman, a fellow Republican, was aware that workers falsified election petitions by crossing out names and addresses of signers and replacing them with addresses of registered voters in order to make them appear valid.

“It’s terrible,” Ruehlman said Wednesday during a hearing for the two signature gatherers. “It takes away the right to democracy. It takes away the right for people to decide issues when you cheat like that.”

Brinkman said the judge is mistaken about what happened.

“I personally did not touch a single address or date or signature or name or anything,” he said.

Lois Mingo, 48, and Precilla Ward, 32, pleaded guilty to election falsification. Both had been working on behalf of Equal Rights Not Special Rights, which withdrew petitions for last fall’s ballot because many signatures collected were obvious forgeries.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, also a Republican, said Brinkman’s role in collecting the altered petitions fell into a gray area of the law and that there was “not a clear-cut violation.” He said the facts were presented to a grand jury, which declined to indict Brinkman.

The gay rights group Citizens to Restore Fairness challenged the petitions and filed a complaint with the Hamilton County Board of Elections.

The challengers pointed out hundreds of fake signatures, including those of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and Reds owner Bob Castellini. They also noted the addresses that had been crossed out and replaced.

Mingo and Ward could receive up to a year each in prison when sentenced Aug. 20 but are more likely to get probation, prosecutors said.