Arizona Midterm Elections: Katie Hobbs Sues Cochise County Republican Officials Who Refused to Certify Election Results

Cochise County Republican officials have refused to certify the results of the Arizona midterm elections despite no evidence of anything wrong with the count. That led to Arizona secretary of state and governor-elect Katie Hobbs filing a lawsuit on Monday, asking a judge to order county officials to canvass the election, which she argued was an obligation under Arizona law.

The rural Arizona county in question is led by conservative Republican leaders who have bought into former President Donald Trump's and defeated Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake's claims that the elections were stolen.

According to The Guardian, the move comes as top Republicans exert pressure to reject the results of the elections. A similar lawsuit was also filed on Monday.

This time from lawyers representing a Cochise County voter and a group of retirees. They filed it on the day of the deadline for counties to approve the official tally of votes, also known as the canvass.

Two Republican county board of supervisors members delayed the canvass vote until they heard again about concerns on the certification of ballot tabulators, even though election officials have repeatedly stated that the equipment is properly approved.

Arizona Completes Vote Counting, but Election Denial Makes Things Complicated

Arizona reportedly has no more ballots left to count, provisional or otherwise, for the 2020 midterm elections. So far, Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, narrowly won the race for governor, flipping the state blue and defeating Republican Kari Lake by 17,116 votes, according to the National Revue.

Hobbs has already met with outgoing governor Doug Ducey about the transition, with the Republican governor congratulating her on her victory.

Lawyers for Hobbs asked the court to order county officials to certify the results by Thursday, adding that the board of supervisors had all the information they needed to certify this election.

Last week, state elections director Kori Lorick wrote in a letter that the law required Hobbs to approve the statewide canvass by next week and must exclude Cochise County's votes if they were not received in time.

That would reportedly threaten to flip two races to Democrats: a U.S. House seat and state schools chief. Monday was the deadline for all 15 counties in Arizona to certify their results, and Cochise County's action could put some 47,000 votes of residents go uncounted.

Hobbs' lawyers noted that failing to certify them would undermine the will of the voters "and sow further confusion and doubt about the integrity of Arizona's election system."

Election Denialism Still Going Strong in Arizona

Trump-backed Republicans suffered major defeats in Arizona. Defeated Kari Lake, Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem, and Senate candidate Blake Masters were among them.

However, CNN reported that despite these three big defeats in the state and no evidence that the elections were rigged in favor of Democrats, election denialism is still going strong in Arizona.

While Masters and Finchem have conceded to their Democratic opponents, Lake has still not conceded and remained in her stance.

Many of the state's Trump supporters are still crying that the election is "rigged," even as Arizona election officials led by Republican Bill Gates have continually presented evidence that debunks their claims. As previously reported, Gates has received death threats and is now hiding at a more secure location.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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