Republicans in one Arizona county refuse to certify election results
Republican officials who have embraced voter fraud theories resisted certifying the midterm election results in one Arizona county, defying a state deadline and setting the stage for a legal battle.
In Cochise County, a conservative stronghold in southeastern Arizona, the two Republican members of the threeperson board of supervisors voted to postpone certifying the county’s election results.
They said they wanted to hear more evidence from those who have argued, without evidence, that the county’s voting machines were not properly certified.
Democrat Ann English, who objected to the delay, told Reuters the decision was irresponsible and that the board had been pressured by election deniers not to approve the results.
A spokesperson for Arizona’s secretary of state said the office would file a lawsuit against Cochise County requesting an order to force the board to certify the results as required by state law. The office sent a letter to the board last week that included documentation of the voting machines’ licenses.
“Facts are not debatable, and we are not going to participate in baseless attacks to Arizona’s democracy,” said the spokesperson, Sophia Solis.
Arizona has been at the centre of battles over election fraud allegations since former president Donald Trump falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Several recounts of the 2020 votes in Arizona and elsewhere confirmed Joe Biden’s victory.
The state’s Republican candidate for governor this year, Kari Lake, embraced Trump’s stolen election claims and has refused to concede after losing to her opponent, current Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, by just over 17,000 votes in the Nov. 8 election. —