‘TRAITORS’

Arizona’s Maricopa County Certifies Election Over Angry Crowd’s Objections

Officials in Cochise County, meanwhile, dug their heels in and refused to certify its results, rendering it the only holdout county in Arizona.

Supervisors in Arizona’s Maricopa County voted unanimously Monday to certify its midterm election results, guarded by sheriff’s deputies from a rogue’s gallery of witnesses and right-wing protestors who heckled them as corrupt “traitors” overseeing widespread voter disenfranchisement. The vote followed a four-hour meeting in which members of the audience frequently raised the issue of ballot printers, requiring longer wait times for voters, some of whom were then asked to deposit their ballots in secure drawers. County officials have said the printer problems did not block anyone from casting their vote. Also on Monday—the certification deadline under state law—Mohave County’s Republican officials eventually certified the vote, after initially delaying it and adjourning. All but one of Arizona’s 15 counties have now certified their results, the lone holdout being Cochise County. “Our small counties, we’re just sick and tired of getting kicked around and not being respected,” Peggy Judd, one of Cochise County’s “nay” votes, told The New York Times. The decision opens the board’s three members, who are not expected to meet again on election matters until Friday, to felony charges for flouting the deadline.