POLITICS

Second Arizona County Delays Election Certification in Protest

The board of supervisors in Mohave were split on the vote to certify, with some calling their opposition a protest of Election Day issues in Maricopa County.

Mohave County has become the second Arizona county to delay certification of the November midterm elections after Cochise County did the same on Friday. In a Monday meeting, the Republican-controlled board of supervisors in Mohave were split on the vote to certify, with some members calling their vote a political statement to protest Election Day hiccups in Maricopa County, like printer malfunctions that Republicans have used as a scapegoat for their losses. The board did, however, vow to certify the election by the Nov. 28 deadline. Arizona law says that counties don’t actually have the power to reject election results or refuse to certify. After Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county, finished counting its ballots, the Republican candidate for state attorney general, Abraham Hamadeh, was trailing Democrat Kris Mayes by just 510 votes. That race will go to a mandatory recount after all 15 counties and the secretary of state certify the election. Democrat Katie Hobbs defeated Kari Lake in the gubernatorial race, and Democrat Mark Kelly was re-elected senator.