Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs sued a Republican-controlled county Monday after it refused to certify its election outcomes by the state’s statutory deadline.
The lawsuit, filed in Arizona Superior Court docket, goals to compel the Cochise County Board of Supervisors to certify the county’s outcomes from the Nov. 8 election. The deadline for county certification is Monday.
Officers in Cochise, one in all 15 counties within the state, voted earlier within the day in opposition to certifying its election outcomes. The county beforehand postponed certification at a Nov. 18 assembly.
Underneath state legislation, Arizona is meant to certify its outcomes by Dec. 8 — with or with out certification from all the counties.
“Absent this Court docket’s intervention, the Secretary may have no selection however to finish the statewide canvass by December 8 with out Cochise County’s votes included,” the lawsuit states. “Thus, the Board’s inaction not solely violates the plain language of the statute, but in addition undermines a fundamental tenet of free and honest elections on this state: making certain that each Arizonan’s voice is heard.”
The board voted 2-1 Monday to additional delay its certification till Friday.
The lone Democrat on the board, Ann English, urged her GOP colleagues to take motion.
“There is no such thing as a cause for us to delay,” English informed Vice Chair Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby.
“Now we have been offered supplies that was requested for on the final assembly from each side, and I really feel that you simply each have the knowledge essential in an effort to make this determination,” she added.
NBC Information has requested Judd and Crosby for remark.
In a press release earlier Monday, a spokesperson for Hobbs warned that she would use “all accessible authorized treatments” to compel counties to adjust to state legislation, which requires that county election outcomes be licensed by Nov. 28.
The spokesperson, Sophia Solis, added that if the courtroom did not intervene, Hobbs “may have no selection” however to finish the statewide canvass by Dec. 8 with out Cochise County’s votes.
Hobbs would be the state’s subsequent governor after she defeated Trump-backed Kari Lake, a outstanding election denier who has refused to concede the race. Voters in Cochise County largely favored Lake over Hobbs within the November election.
Cochise County is the one county within the state that refused to certify its outcomes.
The state’s most populous county, Maricopa, the jurisdiction that was on the heart of a partisan overview over its 2020 election outcomes, licensed November’s outcomes amid backlash at a public assembly Monday.
“This was not an ideal election, however it was protected and safe. The votes have been counted precisely,” Invoice Gates, the GOP chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, stated earlier than the vote to certify the election.
