Democracy defenders vow to sue after GOP-led Arizona county refuses to certify election
Pro-democracy advocates are expected to sue a rural Arizona county after a pair of GOP officials on Monday refused to certify this month’s electoral outcomes despite a complete lack of evidence of miscounting.
Heeding the calls of former President Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans who have repeatedly lied about voter fraud and advocated for rejecting the popular will, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors declined to certify the results of the November 8 midterm elections in which Democratic candidates won races for governor, secretary of state, and state attorney general.
“There is no reason for us to delay,” said the board’s Democratic chair, Ann English, who was outnumbered by the county’s two Republican supervisors, Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd.
In a 2-1 vote, the board called for “a Friday meeting to have further presentation on the accreditation of the voting machines,” according to Arizona Republic reporter Mary Jo Pitzl. Crosby demanded “presentations” from Democratic Secretary of State and Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs as well as “people who spoke November 18 about alleged issues with accreditation.”
In the words of Democratic election attorney Marc Elias, “The only presentation Cochise is going to get is in a courtroom.”
Elias, the founder of Democracy Docket, said that they will sue the county for missing Monday’s legally mandated deadline to approve the official vote tally.
Hobbs’ office had previously pledged to sue if the county missed the deadline. Prior to Monday’s vote, Arizona’s election director, Kori Lorick, said in a statement that the secretary of state “will use all available legal remedies to compel compliance with Arizona law and protect Cochise County voters’ right to have their votes counted” if the board refused to fulfill its “nondiscretionary duty.”
Elsewhere in the country on Monday, Pennsylvania’s Luzerne County Board of Elections also refused to certify the midterm results.
Originally published at Commondreams.org.
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