Republicans in Arizona lost the major races in this year’s election, including for U.S. Senate, governor and secretary of state. Arizona’s evolution into a political battleground has angered many conservatives in a state traditionally seen as staunchly Republican. In Cochise County, the Republican candidates for those posts won by wide margins.
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Fight over election tally threatens Arizona certification
PHOENIX
(AP) — The two Republicans who control the elected board in a rural
Arizona county have sued their own elections director to force her to
conduct a greatly expanded hand-count of ballots cast in the Nov. 8
elections, a standoff that could affect certification of the results. . .
Upping the stakes, the lawsuit contends the Republican board members have concluded that the expanded hand-count is “necessary to ensure completeness and accuracy before certifying the election.” The county’s certified results must be received by the secretary of state no later than Nov. 28.
That means time is short to get a court ruling, pull about 12,000 Election Day ballots from the director’s possession and gather the more than 200 volunteers Stevens has said he is ready to do the hand-count. Another 32,000 ballots were cast early.
If the county misses the certification deadline, the secretary of state’s office or a candidate could go to court and ask a judge to force the board to certify the results. The deadline is in state law, and election rules based on that law say county officials must certify and cannot change the results.
The Pima County judge who heard heard the previous case because local judges declared a conflict will also consider the new lawsuit. Judge Casey McGinley set a daylong hearing for this coming Friday.
The lawsuit also says Republican County Attorney Brian McIntyre “has made clear that he will prosecute any attempt by the Board and Recorder to exercise their lawful authority to take custody of the ballots to complete an expanded hand-count themselves.”
McIntyre has repeatedly told the board in recent weeks that their efforts would be illegal, as has Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the state’s top elections officer and Democratic governor-elect. Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich, however, issued an informal opinion backing the board.
An attorney for Marra said Tuesday her client had not been formally served but that she was just beginning to review the lawsuit. A formal response would likely come soon.
Marra conducted the required hand-count audit on Saturday, as did other counties across the state. Those audits choose a sample of both Election Day and early ballots. Bipartisan teams of volunteers provided by the chairs of the county Democratic and Republican parties count four races — five in a presidential election year.
Marra’s certification to Hobbs’ office says two batches of early ballots and two batches of Election Day ballots from two vote centers were counted, totaling 2,202 ballots. The hand-count results matched the machine count exactly.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections
Masters concedes Senate race, Hobbs celebrates governor win
PHOENIX (AP) — Republican Blake Masters called Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly Tuesday to concede in the Arizona Senate race, joining other vanquished Republicans around the country who cast doubt on the 2020 election but still acknowledged their own defeat.
Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor, however, had not conceded a day after The Associated Press called the race for Democrat Katie Hobbs.
PHOENIX (AP) — Republican Blake Masters called Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly Tuesday to concede in the Arizona Senate race, joining other vanquished Republicans around the country who cast doubt on the 2020 election but still acknowledged their own defeat.
Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor, however, had not conceded a day after The Associated Press called the race for Democrat Katie Hobbs.
“There were obviously a lot of problems with this election, but there is no path forward,” Masters wrote in a statement he posted to Twitter. He did not specify the problems, but has previously complained about long lines at polling places and a problem with ballot printers at about a third of the vote centers in Maricopa County, which includes metro Phoenix.
Masters said “Republicans are the underdogs now,” saying he attracted millions in opposition spending by antagonizing Democrats, the media, big tech firms and “woke corporations.” Republicans need to rethink the way they run campaigns, he said.
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