Cochise County Board of Supervisors refuse to certify election, miss deadline

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - The Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 Monday to table the certification of the election results.

They have now missed the deadline and will likely face a lawsuit from the state. Cochise County is the only one in the state to miss the deadline.

“It is of higher consequence to make sure that we have good, accurate elections with accurate, certified machines and there’s doubt in my mind whether the machines are certified,” said District 1 Supervisor Tom Crosby.

In Monday’s meeting, Crosby made the motion to table the item to accept the election results. His motion was seconded by District 3 Vice-Chairman Peggy Judd. When the supervisors voted on the motion, only District 2 Chairman Ann English voted against it.

“I feel that you both have the information necessary in order to make this decision that’s nondiscretionary on our part to certify the election for Cochise County, no matter how you feel about what happened in Maricopa, Pima, Mohave, or Apache,” English told Crosby and Judd.

The board will meet again on Friday and has demanded the state prove that vote tabulation machines were certified for accuracy.

“The Secretary will use all available legal remedies to compel compliance with Arizona law and protect voters’ right to have their votes counted,” said Secretary of State spokesperson Sophia Solis. “The Secretary of State’s Office provided supporting documentation that confirmed Cochise County’s election equipment was properly certified. The Board of Supervisors had all of the information they needed to certify this election and failed to uphold their responsibility for Cochise voters.”

The board is the same group that tried to order a full hand count of the ballots, but their efforts were blocked by courts several times.

On Monday, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors hosted an hours-long special meeting to certify the election. They eventually voted to certify.

Mohave, Najavo and Yavapai counties also voted Monday to certify the election.

Pima and Santa Cruz counties certified their results last week.