Wednesday, American Surveillance filed a lawsuit In Cochise County, Arizona, officials sought public records disclosure regarding the county's recent election management decisions, including the refusal to meet Arizona's 2022 interim results certification deadline.
Statement from American Oversight Executive Director Heather Sawyer:
“Arizonas are struggling with the recent indictments of two members of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors as officials delay certifying interim 2022 results, putting thousands of Arizonans’ votes at risk. “This makes it even more urgent to know what was going on behind closed doors,” Sawyer said. “As the 2024 election approaches, the people of Cochise County, especially the residents of Cochise County, need to know how officials collaborating with the election denial movement are using their authority to make significant changes to election administration and undermine our democracy. We need to know how we have undermined the political process.”
American Oversight filed the lawsuit after filing several public records requests with Cochise County authorities. Among the records sought are the county's attempt to audit hand-counting of ballots, its refusal to certify the 2022 election results, its communications with election rejection activists pushing for hand-counting of ballots, and the transfer of election administration authority. Includes information related to.
Cochise County has become a hotbed of election denialism in recent years as county officials encouraged false claims of voter fraud and condoned fraud. Conspiracy theories about voting machines.
Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors has resolved to count all ballots by hand. successfully challenged in court. Following the election, two of the three members of the board, Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby, were sworn in. voted against certification Quoting the results: Concerns about voting machines dismissed And what I'm looking for instead is count votes by hand. Secretary of State Katie Hobbs sued the board for failing to vet the election results. Court order to complete the canvas. In November 2023, Judd and Crosby both was indicted He was indicted by a state grand jury and charged with conspiracy to delay 2022 vote counting and obstructing the Arizona Secretary of State's ability to complete a statewide election.
In February 2023, the Board voted to: transfer electoral authority Everyone from the county's elections department to County Recorder David Stevens is a proponent of unsubstantiated claims about hand counting and voting machine security. Two months later, Stevens Appointed by Bob Bartelsmeyer Bartelsmeier has since resigned from his position, and his appointment as county elections director was approved by Judd and Crosby despite public concern over social media posts denying the 2020 election results. .
The American Oversight lawsuit seeks records from Judd, Crosby, Stevens, County Supervisor Ann English, and Cochise County itself. Today's lawsuit can be viewed below. https://www.americanoversight.org/document/complaint-american-oversight-v-cochise-county-ariz-records-regarding-election-administration-changes
Read more about our work in Arizona here And about our investigation into a national network of election deniers. here.
