The top deputy of Arizona Secretary of State and Governor-elect Katie Hobbs, D-Ariz., threatened the Mohave County Board of Supervisors with prosecution if it would not certify the election results in her favor before the state's deadline.
Emails show that Arizona State Elections Director Kori Lorick wrote numerous emails and letters warning the county that it would face indictment if it refused to certify the election in time.
"Our office will take all legal action necessary to ensure that Arizona's voters have their votes counted, including referring the individual supervisors who vote not to certify for criminal enforcement under A.R.S. 16-1010," Lorick wrote to the county board.
The statute refers to a state felony regarding election officials who "fail to perform their duties" under the law, which could result in up to two years' imprisonment.
Mohave wanted more time before the certification to examine issues of election integrity.
"The Secretary of State did contact our County and cited A.R.S. Section 16-1010 as a statute that could be used to prosecute [the board] if they did not certify the election," said Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith.
"The threat of legal action, including personally, came from the Arizona State Elections Director [Lorick]," the board's chair-elect, supervisor Travis Lingenfelter, said.
The Mohave County board eventually certified the election on Monday, although during the video broadcast of the canvass meeting of the board, supervisor and chair Ron Gould said that he was certifying the election "under duress."
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