At least two counties in Arizona have confirmed that their certification of the 2022 election will be delayed as the state’s attorney ge...
At least two counties in Arizona have confirmed that their certification of the 2022 election will be delayed as the state’s attorney general’s office wrote a letter claiming there’s evidence of “statutory violations” that occurred in Maricopa County on Election Day.
Republican-controlled Cochise County and Mohave County both voted to delay certification until the November 28 deadline.
The two Republican supervisors in Cochise voted Friday for the delay after some argued the county’s vote-counting machines were not properly certified. State Elections Director Kori Lorick, displeased with the vote, threatened the board that the state would sue if they did not certify on time.
In a split vote, Mohave County reportedly voted to delay as a protest against voting issues in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county.
Pinal County and La Paz County, both Republican-controlled, voted Monday to certify election results.
The delays come as the office of state Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Saturday ordered Maricopa County officials to submit a report on its handling of the November 8 election.
The letter said there is evidence, including first-hand witness accounts, of “statutory violations” in the contest, which is overseen by Katie Hobbs as Secretary of State. Hobbs is the projected winner of the Arizona gubernatorial contest against Republican candidate Kari Lake.
Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright wrote in the letter that “Arizonans deserve a full report and accounting of the myriad problems that occurred in relation to Maricopa County’s administration of the 2022 General Election.” She added that these issues relate to the county’s “ability to lawfully certify election results” and ordered a response “before Maricopa County submits its official canvass to the Secretary of State, which must occur on or before November 28.”
Printers in at least 70 of the county’s 223 polling locations printed ballots with ink too light to be read by tabulation machines, causing long wait times across precincts as election officials tried to sort out the problems. Voters were forced to either wait in long lines for up to hours, travel to a new polling location, or drop their ballots in drop boxes to be counted in Phoenix. Notably, most of the affected precincts were heavily conservative areas according to the Arizona Sun Times.
“Maricopa County appears to have failed to adhere to the statutory guidelines in segregating, counting, tabulating, tallying, and transporting the ‘Door 3’ ballots,” Wright said. “In fact, Maricopa County has admitted that in some voting locations, ‘Door 3’ non-tabulated ballots were commingled with tabulated ballots at the voting location.”
In a video message to her supporters on Monday, Lake noted of the letter and emphasized her continued fight in the race.
“Whether done accidentally or intentionally, it is clear that this election was a debacle that destroyed any trust in our elections,” Lake charged. “Arizonans who choose to make their voice heard on election day should not be disenfranchised or punished for choosing to vote in person yet they were.”
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