Judge Forces Arizona County to Certify Midterm Results Immediately

After two Republican election officials from a rural Arizona county refused to certify midterm results by this week’s deadline, an Arizona judge said the move broke the law and ordered them to certify on Thursday, according to The Associated Press. The Cochise County’s board of supervisors argued the machines that counted ballots weren’t certified to use in the midterms, though state and federal officials negate that. Secretary of State and Governor-elect Katie Hobbs filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming the law requires the county to certify the election—otherwise known as a canvass—adding that she must certify the election statewide on Dec. 5 and can only delay it until Dec. 8. The board’s only Democrat, Supervisor Ann English, said the issues are a “circus” that doesn’t need to have to happen, AP reported. “I’ve had enough. I think the public’s had enough. So I’m asking for a swift resolution of this if that’s possible,” she said. One of the supervisors responsible for twice blocking the election, Peggy Judd, said, “I am not ashamed of anything I did. And today I feel I must, because of a court ruling and because of my own health and situations that are going on in our life, I feel like I must follow what the judge did today.”