Republicans in Arizona county refuse to certify 2022 election

Republican officials in one Arizona county said Monday they will not certify the 2022 election results that have Democrats winning races for governor, US Senate and other statewide offices — setting up a showdown with the Democratic secretary of state and governor-elect, who vowed to sue if the deadline was missed.

Two Republican members of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted to delay certifying the results amid claims that the county’s voting machines weren’t properly accredited — even though state election officials have said they have provided proof that they are.

“In that group’s opinion, the secretary [of state] has not been responsive in providing proof of lawful accreditation of voting machine laboratories,” GOP Supervisor Tom Crosby said.

“In my opinion, that lack of response would seem to suggest the inability to provide the requested proof by the secretary,” he added.

The lone Democrat on the board voted to certify.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who defeated Republican Kari Lake in the gubernatorial race, said her office will sue.

“The Board of Supervisors had all of the information they needed to certify this election and failed to uphold their responsibility for Cochise voters,” Sophia Solis, a spokeswoman for Hobbs, said in an email to the Associated Press.

State Elections Director Kori Lorick sent a letter to the country supervisors last week warning that their claims have emerged from “baseless conspiracies.”

In Mohave County, Republicans postponed a certification vote until Thursday after hearing from residents about problems with ballot printers in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. 

Officials in Maricopa have said all legal ballots have been counted.

As the election drama continued to play out, former President Donald Trump rejected the state’s gubernatorial election and called for Lake, whom he endorsed, to be declared the winner. 

“Massive numbers of ‘BROKEN’ voting machines in Republican Districts on Election Day. Mechanics sent in to ‘FIX’ them made them worse,” Trump, 76, said in a Truth Social post without offering proof of his claims. “Kari had to be taken to a Democrat area, which was working perfectly, to vote. Her opponent ran the Election.”

Hobbs defeated Lake by a little more than 17,000 votes out of more than 2.5 million ballots cast.

With Post wires