Arizona’s new Democratic Attorney General, Chris Mays, electoral integrity unit Her Republican predecessor created and instead focused its work on addressing voter suppression. appointed this month.

Meanwhile, the unit’s former leader, Jennifer Wright, joined a legal effort to nullify Mays’ narrow victory in the November election.

“Under the administration of my predecessor, the Office of Election Integrity conducted a broad search for voter fraud and found scant evidence of it happening in Arizona,” Mays told her office Monday. said in a statement provided by the “That’s because cases of voter fraud are very rare.”

Former Attorney General Mark Brnovic, a Republican who ran for Senate last year, has set up an office to investigate voter fraud complaints in the battleground state of Arizona.

Mays said in a statement that he does not share priorities with Brnovic. The office has five voter fraud investigations pending. As of late Octobera Mays spokesman said Monday that there are no plans yet for how they will proceed.

Brnovic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republicans in Arizona have expanded their conspiracy theories and fraud claims since the 2020 election and last year’s midterm elections. Ended with a recount determined by 280 votes.

Mays said protecting access to the vote and limiting voter suppression are at the forefront of her administration.

“I will also use this force to protect election officials, election volunteers, and poll workers from threats of violence and interference in elections,” she said. 90% of voters enjoy, and often rely on,’

Wright, the former assistant attorney general who led Mr. Brnovic’s election security team, announced last week that he had lost to Mr. Mays and started a new role as a lawyer for Republican Abraham Hamade. We will continue our legal efforts to overturn the election.

Wright on Monday posed questions to Hamade’s campaign about his new role. Hamade was part of a group of prominent election deniers seeking statewide office in Arizona during the midterm elections.

In December, his legal efforts to reverse his election loss were dismissed in court, and a recount confirmed his defeat. The result dealt another blow to Arizona Republicans who went into the midterm elections with high hopes of victory, taking advantage of high inflation and President Biden’s sluggish job approval numbers. Instead, Democrats won most of the statewide marquee offices.

Election Deniers Pointed Out Election Day Technical Glitchdisrupted some vote tallies in Arizona’s most populous Maricopa County, fueling conspiracy theories and unsubstantiated claims. i tried to figure it out. due to human error And that has laid the groundwork for Mr. Hamade’s recent efforts to overturn the election.

“Not only do I believe Prime Minister Abe is right, but I also believe he will be successful in the election campaign. said in a statement. “I look forward to Chris Mays being freed from an office that should never have been occupied in the first place.”

In Arizona, a cauldron of anti-electoralism, Mr. Brunovich somewhat cryptic expression, defending state vote numbers after the 2020 presidential election. His stance angered former President Donald J. Trump. He sharply criticized Mr. Brnovic last June and endorsed Mr. Brnovic’s Republican opponent, Blake Masters.

But Mr. Brunovitch also proposed The 2020 elections revealed ‘serious weaknesses’ in the electoral system, inexplicably said “I think we all know what happened in 2020,” said former Trump aide Stephen K. Bannon last spring on his podcast.