The Election Board for Cochise, Arizona, is refusing to certify the results of the recent “election.” While Republicans were hoping to “recount all Election Day ballots on Friday,” the board “delayed certifying the results of last week’s vote.” The reason is over an issue of possibly “un-certified” machines.
Cochise County crucial
Cochise County sweeps across a huge swath of southeastern Arizona, making immigration and border concerns their biggest hot-button issues. Democrats are trying to downplay conservative claims as the state results have came down to a hotly contested photo finish.
Contrary to popular belief, all the final results are NOT in. A senate seat remains in play, along with the fate of the state Governor’s office.
Three people concerned about election integrity raised questions regarding the certification of counting machines.
ICYMI: Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) and the Arizona Alliance of Retired Americans sent letters to Cochise County threatening legal action if supervisors continue to delay election certification and miss statutory deadlines. https://t.co/mQDTzv6xRM
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) November 23, 2022
Tom Rice, Brian Steiner and Daniel Wood, backed by “the two Republicans who control the Cochise County board of supervisors,” convinced the board “that their claims were valid enough for them to delay the certification.” There’s still a final deadline of November 28.
The Cochise County conservatives are alleging that “the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission allowed certifications for testing companies to lapse.” If that turns out to be true, it means the “certifications of vote tabulation equipment used across the state” were “voided.”
Officials of the Democrat persuasion are denying everything, including that the sun comes up in the east, without producing any evidence to support valid certification.
Are the certifiers certified?
State Elections Director Kori Lorick, who works directly under the “declared” Governor elect, Katie Hobbs, swears up and down that “the equipment used in Cochise County is properly certified under both federal and state laws and requirements.”
That’s only true if the companies who signed off on the certificates were properly certified themselves. Nobody wants to show any proof they are. All Lorick could come up with to persuade the board is a statement on her own say so that “the claims that the SLI testing labs were not properly accredited are false.” She didn’t have their current paperwork to show anyone though.
The Cochise County elections board has been the scene of intense fighting not seen in the area since the days of Geronimo. The fireworks started when conservative members Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd voted to have all the ballots “counted by hand to determine if the machine counts were accurate.”
JUST IN: Mohave County has voted to delay certification of election results until Nov. 28. BOS member says it is a political statement of solidarity with other counties that have delayed certification.
— The AZ – abc15 – Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) November 21, 2022
They also filed a lawsuit “against the county elections director earlier this week seeking to force the hand-count.”
The Cochise GOP backed off on the lawsuit, dropping the case against Lisa Marra on Wednesday. “If our presenters’ request is met by the proof that our machines are indeed legally and lawfully accredited, then indeed we should accept the results.” That’s a big “if” Crosby notes. “However, if the machines have not been lawfully certificated, then the converse is also true. We cannot verify this election now.”
Lorick is still hopping mad about the decision. She’s “vowing legal action to force the board to accept the results.” They’re supposed to do a Mike Pence act and just rubber stamp the results, not question the integrity of them. “If they fail to do so, the Secretary (of State) will use all available legal remedies to compel compliance with Arizona law and protect Cochise County voters’ rights to have their votes counted.” If she did her job to make sure the election was fair and honest, she wouldn’t have anything to gripe about.