Under a cloud of scrutiny, the Maricopa County Arizona Board of Supervisors certified the 2022 General Election, confirming Katie Hobbs as the winner of the governor’s race.
From ABC15 in Phoenix:
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors certified the 2022 General Election results Monday.
Nearly 1.6 million voters cast a ballot in Maricopa County. That’s 64.2% of the county’s eligible voters, exceeding the historic average of 56.3% going back five decades.
However, not everyone believes the Supervisors should have certified the election.
This morning the line to get into the Board’s meeting room started forming at sunrise.
“We don’t trust the outcome of what happened, and we think it’s really important the board of supervisors listens to us,” said one woman who didn’t want to be identified.
Our own Cameron Arcand was in attendance at the meeting and documented the discussion among the Board of Supervisors and some of the citizen testimony.
Maricopa BOS Chairman Bill Gates gave opening remarks, saying it is their
“[S]tatutory duty to complete this part of the election process,” Gates said.
“Any registered voter in Arizona who would like to formerly contest official results must do so within five days after the county and the state canvasses as outlined in Arizona Revised Statute ?16-672 through 674.
“To challenge unofficial results would be like challenging a TV network’s prognostications after the polls close. The canvas is what makes the results official.”
Maricopa County Registrar-Recorder of Elections Stephen Richer affirmed,
“The early voting process is safe. It is secure. It is trackable. And it is subject to fewer of the caprices of in-person voting. And if somebody has an issue, for example, 14 days before election day, that issue can easily be resolved in the next two weeks. This used to be a broadly shared sentiment, that had been growing since no-excuse early voting was implemented in Arizona in 1992. I’d like for us to get back to this place. I’d like for us to get back to the place-back to the world where the responsibilities that the 15 counties recorders oversee-voting by mail-is rightfully encouraged, not discouraged, based on some falsehood that then steers voters to methods that might be less convenient or more challenging for them.
Richer affirmed that there were observers around the clock from both parties.
“Over 100 people of all parties have contributed to the signature verification process.”
Richer expressed that he was very impressed, and was very grateful for this oversight. According to Arcand, Richer said there was no use of AI in the process.
As RedState reported, Richer has an active SuperPAC that funded opposition against candidates like Kari Lake.
Those gathered for public comment began to grow impatient, the atmosphere grew tense, and some outbursts were registered, including one person yelling that they were not conspiracy theorists. Chairman Gates asked that everyone be respectful and said that “the world is watching.” This brought an even greater uproar and Gates threatened to call a recess if things did not calm down.
The public comment time included the testimony of an election worker who attested to the rampant problems with voting throughout the county.
And one person praying down judgment on wicked works.
According to ABC 15, Supervisor Steve Gallardo had some choice words for Kari Lake and the Lake Campaign:
Supervisor Steve Gallardo, the lone Democrat on the board, accused the Kari Lake Campaign of trying to deny her voters an explanation for the problems on Election Day.
“You look at the Twitter feed of Kari Lake and the Kari Lake War Room, they put up 28 posts on Twitter of 28 people speaking with concerns and comments and yelling at us,” Gallardo said, “but when it came time to answering every one of those questions not one tweet from Kari Lake explaining why there were problems at the polling place.”
If you wanted to vote in Maricopa County, you could. And so, after everyone had their say, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to certify the election.
Meanwhile, Lake has a response of her own.
However, in nearby Cochise County, they are still refusing to certify the votes.
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat who narrowly won the race for governor, asked a judge to order county officials to canvass the election, which she said is an obligation under Arizona law. Lawyers representing a Cochise County voter and a group of retirees filed a similar lawsuit Monday, the deadline for counties to approve the official tally of votes, known as the canvass.
The two Republican county supervisors delayed the canvass vote until Friday, when they want to hear once more about concerns over the certification of ballot tabulators, though election officials have repeatedly said the equipment is properly approved.
Despite Recorder Richer and the Board of Supervisors’ certainty that the election was done transparently and thoroughly, as well as the reassurances by Chairman Gates that the issues experienced with ballot printers and other concerns would be investigated and resolved before the next election, the taint of malfeasance from this election still hovers over the state.
As Gates said to the gathered crowd, the world is watching.
