Arizona county transferred voter oversight to county Republican registrars who questioned past election results where former President Donald J. Trump won nearly 60% of the vote in 2020 It has since been sued by the state’s Democratic Attorney General. .

It’s the latest clash between Cochise County, a heavily Republican area of ​​southeastern Arizona, and Democrats statewide, with conspiracy theories still swirling about voter fraud and fraud.

The county’s bipartisan election administrator, Lisa Mara, announced in January: Resigncited threats against her after she refused to comply with fraudulent election directives from the Republicans that control county governments, including a plan to hand-count ballots after last year’s midterm elections. got a job.

The county board of oversight subsequently appointed Republican Recorder David W. Stevens as interim election overseer, and on a February 28 vote, two Republicans on the board endorsed the new power structure. Only one Democrat voted against it.

On Tuesday, Chris Mays, who was narrowly elected as Arizona’s attorney general in November and took office in January, filed a lawsuit against the county, calling the transition of power an “unconditional handover.”

Mr Stevens, Defendant lawsuithas close ties to Mark Finkem, a former state legislator and vocal election denier. was recently punished by a judge for baseless lawsuits It was to contest his loss in the 2022 election for Secretary of State.

At an emergency meeting Wednesday, supervisors voted two-to-one to hire outside counsel, and Timothy Larson, a prominent Arizona attorney who represented a key election opponent in a recent lawsuit. I appointed Mr. Sota. His clients include Kari Lake, who lost last year’s gubernatorial race, and Abraham Hamadeh, the failed Republican candidate for attorney general.

La Sota declined to comment Wednesday. His two Republican supervisors in Cochise County did not immediately respond to the message. Ann English, the chair of the board and the only Democrat who voted against hiring La Sota, declined to comment by email.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Stevens said it’s not uncommon for Arizona’s county registrar to expand election oversight.

Arizona law narrowly defines the authority of the county registrar responsible for voter registration, early voting, and verification of voter signatures on early voting affidavits and petitions. An independent office and reporting to the Board of Supervisors, the county elections department oversees the tallying of votes and results on Election Day.

In the 19-page lawsuit, Mays highlighted Cochise County’s past clashes with state officials over election control.

“This is not the first time defendants have flouted the law governing elections,” the lawsuit said. “The board and the registrar, with respect to the November 2022 general election, first sought to engage in illegal ballot counting and then violated the board’s obligation to investigate the election within the statutory timeframe. and repeatedly disregarded the law.”

Mays said the court ordered the county to rescind in each case, and officials ultimately complied.

Before the supervisor delegated full election authority to Mr. Stevens, the Attorney General’s Office wrote to the county saying the change violated state law. But Republicans on the board said they had no problem with the deal.

Stevens serves on the board of the Election Fairness Institute, a non-profit organization run by Finchem, who worked with him on the state legislature.

“Mark is a good friend of mine,” Stevens said, after downplaying the alliance, adding, “I don’t see it as a problem.”

Still, Democratic Party supervisor Ms English was the voice of dissent and caution. “I hope you won’t regret it,” she said of the arrangement.

Charles Homans contributed to the report.