Arizona county faces suit from Katie Hobbs for refusal to certify election results

Hobbs, who narrowly defeated Republican Kari Lake in the race for Arizona's governor in an election riddled with problems, asked a judge on Monday to order Cochise County officials to certify the election, which she claimed is an obligation under Arizona law.

State election officials threatened that a lawsuit would be filed if Monday’s deadline for the election to be certified in all counties in Arizona was not, according to News 12.

Officials in the county refused to certify the 2022 election which would have the Democrats win a US Senate seat, the governor’s mansion and other statewide races. Two Republican county supervisors delayed the canvass vote until Friday, when they requested to hear additional concerns over the certification of ballot tabulators.

State Elections Director Kori Lorick said in a letter last week that by law Hobbs is required to approve the statewide canvass by next week and Cochise County's votes would be excluded if they are not received in time, which could flip at least two close races, one a US House seat and another for state schools chief, from Republican to Democrat.

Hobbs' lawsuit requests that the Cochise County Superior Court order officials to certify by Thursday and that failing to certify would undermine the will of the county's voters “and sow further confusion and doubt about the integrity of Arizona's election system."

Lawyers in several counties warned the supervisors that they could face criminal charges for failing to carry out their obligations as Arizona law requires county officials to approve the election canvass.

Earlier in the day, chair of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors Ron Gould said that he was voting to certify the 2022 general election under duress. “I have no choice but to vote ‘Aye’ or I will be arrested and charged with a felony."

Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous jurisdiction, voted unanimously to certify their election canvass on Monday despite dozens of residents speaking out about their concerns such as printer malfunctions.

According to The Hill, Board Chairman Bill Gates acknowledged the Election Day printer malfunctions and said that the board will conduct an “even deeper dive” to fix the problem. “Let me be abundantly clear: There has never been a perfect election, and this was not a perfect election. There were issues, but we were transparent about that.”

Mohave County last week delayed its certification in protest of the Maricopa malfunctions, but voted unanimously to certify the election Monday afternoon.