Photo: Cassidy Araiza/The Guardian. Arizona Voting Officials Charged with Refusing to Certify 2022 Election Results
Republican County Executives Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd initially refused to certify their county's election results.
Two elected officials in a rural Arizona county who delayed certifying election results have been charged by the Arizona Attorney General with conspiracy and interfering with an elections official. .
Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd, the Republican leaders of Cochise County, are facing two felony charges for their initial refusal to certify the county's 2022 election results. A grand jury was convened earlier this month to discuss potential charges, which were filed Wednesday.
The court required Crosby and Judd to certify the November 2022 election results, giving counties a statewide deadline to collect results. Even after the court order, Crosby did not show up to vote.
'The poison continues to spread': Legal costs fail to quell hotbed of election denial. Read more
The indictment alleges that Crosby and Judd conspired to delay the election campaign in Cochise County and knowingly interfered with the Secretary of State's ability to complete the statewide election campaign in a timely manner.
The two executives repeatedly did it. made false election claims and had all ballots counted by hand, which was later ruled illegal.
Earlier this year, Democratic Arizona Attorney General Chris Mayes vowed to prosecute election interference in a swing state that has seen all sorts of election denial since the 2020 election.
« Repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable,” Mayes said in a statement. “I am sworn to uphold the rule of law, and my office will continue to enforce Arizona election laws and support our election officials in the performance of their duties.”
Over the past year, local assemblies have been mired in election disputes, with one contingent showing up to call for votes to be counted and restrictions on voting access and another group defending how elections are being conducted. Some in the latter group have long wanted Crosby and Judd to be charged and prosecuted for their efforts to disrupt the vote count, although they also worry that the charges could further embolden election deniers.
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The county's legal costs have soared into the hundreds of thousands, not including the costs supervisors likely incurred, to defend himself outside of county funds.
Crosby financed his legal defense on a right-wing platform after he received a grand jury subpoena, calling himself “an advocate for election integrity yet before”. went viral” and said the lawsuit against him “will intimidate other Arizona county leaders into joining globalist plans to compromise elections and force voting machines.”
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