Two rural Arizona counties have voted to delay the certification of their ballots as Republicans claim voters were disenfranchised.
Cochise County, a red district of the southeast corner of Arizona, delayed its certification on Friday after three individuals claimed the county’s vote-counting machines were not certified.
The three men encouraged Cochise’s two Republican supervisors to delay certifying until Nov. 28.
Arizona Elections Director Kori Lorick refuted the claims in a Friday meeting.
“The equipment used in Cochise County is properly certified under both federal and state laws and requirements. The claims that the SLI testing labs were not properly accredited are false,” said Lorick.
Cochise County’s two Republican supervisors filed a lawsuit against the county’s elections director seeking a hand count of ballots cast. Still, they filed to withdraw the suit on Wednesday.
In Mohave County, five Republicans who comprise the Board of Supervisors delayed certifying in a split vote on Monday.
“Did you hear me say many, many, many, many times that there’s never a perfect election? Never will be,” Allen Tempert, the county’s elections director, told supervisors. “Just the way — it’s just the nature of the beast, just the way things go on. … But this was a very, very, very successful election.”
Supervisor Hildy Angius, a Republican, said the board had been asked not to certify the election, along with other counties in the state. They plan to certify on the county’s deadline next week.
“I don’t think it’s fair that we have to pay the price, that we have to go through this angst every election because of what goes on down there,” Angius said. “So whatever happens with this vote right now, I want everyone to know it has nothing to do with Mohave County because you guys did an awesome job.”
Republican Supervisor Jean Bishop called the move “kind of ludicrous” at the meeting.
“We’re not Maricopa County, we’re Mohave County,” Bishop said. “Our vote is solid, our canvass is gonna be solid. Whether or not it’s today or Monday, it’s gonna be the same. We’re good.”
Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake attacked election officials in Maricopa County, claiming “many voters” were deprived of their right to vote due to printer malfunctions.
The county’s top officials acknowledge that 70 of the county’s 223 voting centers had issues with printers.
Arizona’s attorney general even demanded the county further address voter concerns.
Besides the gubernatorial race, the attorney general contest is too close to call also, with more than 2.5 million votes and a spread of a mere 510 votes. The tight margin will likely trigger an automatic recount under the state’s law.
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