Alexander Kolodin, a member-elect of the Arizona House of Representatives, said election officials are "crazy" for reportedly threatening various in-state counties with felony charges for not certifying election results by a certain date, especially when there's a chance of fraud taking place prior to, during, or even after Election Day.
"Under the guise of making democracy, the left is turning [our elections] into a farce," Kolodin told Newsmax on Tuesday evening, while appearing on "The Chris Salcedo Show" with another guest, The Hill columnist Kristin Tate.
From Kolodin's perspective, Democrats such as Katie Hobbs — the current secretary of state who's also the governor-elect in Arizona — are placing undue pressure on election officials "not to compel to the wishes of their constituents."
Instead, Kolodin believes the Democrats in charge are forcing county election officials to side "with the left's wishes" — a draconian tactic which runs similar to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 unrest at the U.S. Capitol building, in terms of punishing people who were "nowhere near" the incident on that day.
"Arizona officials are telling the various counties, 'No, no, no. You don't get to decide on how you're going to vote on certification. You're going to certify, or we're going to prosecute you,'" lamented Kolodin. "This is the most utterly insane thing I've ever seen."
During the Newsmax dual interview, Tate conceded that Hobbs' 17,000-vote victory over Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake was likely sufficient enough to avoid foul play or fraudulent activity.
However, Kolodin did not share that sentiment.
"I beg to differ" with Hobbs winning the governor's race "freely and fairly," said Kolodin.
Given the litany of Maricopa County's tabulation difficulties on Election Day (Nov. 8) — a day which typically attracts a large Republican turnout — "you can't tell me the problems that occurred [with Maricopa County] didn't affect the result" of the Hobbs-Lake battle, along with other down-the-ballot races, added Kolodin.
Regardless of how things shake out from these midterms, Kolodin remains confident that his legislation introduction for future elections will garner strong bipartisan support — from state officials who are tired of seeing Arizona garner dubious national attention on Election Day.
Among the proposed changes for future Arizona elections, Kolodin emphasized "making ballot images public record," complete with serial numbers.
Kolodin also wants a "transparency requirement" that would preclude counties, such as Maricopa, from simply telling the public, "Trust us" on Election Day — without the records to back up the statements.
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