Tuesday 22 November 2022 07:53 PM Arizona county DELAYS certifying its election results in a 'political statement' trends now
A member of the board of supervisors in Mohave County, Arizona says the body voted to delay certifying its election results Monday as a 'political statement.'
The move came after Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake, who was defeated by Democrat Katie Hobbs in projections last week, said she planned to contest her loss and blasted the state's election administration.
'It's a political statement, I'm not going to lie,' said board member Hildy Angius. 'We did it in 2020, it doesn't hinder us. It's not going to hold us liable.'
'It's, again, a statement of solidarity with other counties who are doing this,' he said, Fox News reported.
Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake claimed the 2022 election was 'botched and broken beyond repair,' as an Arizona county board of supervises voted to delay certifying its results in what one board member called a 'political statement'
The move came after Lake attacked the state's elections as 'the most chaotic in Arizona's history' and ripped Maricopa County for taking 13 days to count its ballots, after campaigning in part on claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
She claimed her own 2022 election was 'botched and broken beyond repair.'
The county's decision comes after another Republican-led county, Cochise, also voted to delay certification.
Republicans are claiming irregularities in Maricopa County, the state's largest, where voting machine issues led to long lines on election days.
Lake, who has yet to concede, has featured voter complaints about the machines on her social media postings. But the New York Times contacted dozens of people who were referenced and reported 'nearly all' were ultimately able to cast a ballot.
Lake traveled to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, speaking to the America First Policy Institute, which is stacked with former Trump administration officials.
Republican State AG Mark Brnovich's office on Saturday demanded Maricopa County provide answers in response to 'hundreds' of complaints about election administration.
'These complaints go beyond pure speculation, but include first-hand witness accounts that raise concerns regarding Maricopa's lawful compliance with Arizona election law,' wrote Jennifer Wright, who heads the state's Elections Integrity Unit.
'Furthermore, statements made by both Chairman (Bill) Gates and Recorder (Stephen) Richer, along with information Maricopa County released through official modes of communication appear to confirm potential statutory violations of Title 16,' she wrote.
Printer problems at 70 locations required voters either to wait in line or travel to deposit their ballots at secure boxes or take them to other polling places.
His demand comes before a deadline for the county to certify its results.
Mohave on Monday became the second Republican-controlled Arizona county to delay certifying the results of this month's election as a protest against voting issues in Maricopa County. Some GOP officials have blamed the problems for their losses in top races including the contest for governor.
Maricopa has finished counting the last remaining ballots.
Arizona voters elected a Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, and gave Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly a full six-year term in office.
But the race for attorney general was heading to a mandatory recount once the election is certified by all 15 counties and the secretary of state. Democrat Kris Mayes ended up ahead of Republican Abraham Hamadeh by just 510 votes on Monday after Maricopa County counted about 1,200 remaining ballots. Nearly 2.6 million Arizonans voted.
The split vote by the board of supervisors in Mohave County in northwest Arizona came with an explicit vow to certify the election on the Nov. 28 deadline.
Members called it a political statement to show how upset they were with the issues in
