- Election officials in two Arizona counties are delaying certifying the midterm election results.
- The officials are citing unproven claims about voting machines in Maricopa County.
- Some Republicans are stirring voter disenfranchisement claims in response to defeats in the midterms.
Two Republican-controlled election boards in Arizona are delaying certifying their midterm election results on the basis of unproven claims that voters were disenfranchised because of problems with voting machines.
The decision was made in protest against what some Republicans claim are irregularities in the midterm vote in Maricopa County, the state's largest county.
Cochise County in southeastern Arizona voted on Friday to delay certifying the election result — and made no promise to do so before the deadline for certification was up.
The board of supervisors in Mohave County, northwest Arizona, in a split vote on Monday also delayed certifying the midterm vote, but pledged to do so by the November 28 deadline, The Associated Press reported.
According to local media reports, two Republicans who make up the majority on the Cochise County elections board asked the state's election director, Kori Lorick, to prove that vote counting machines were legally certified. Despite being told they were, the board members decided to side with three men claiming that the certifications had lapsed, per the AP.
Lorick reportedly warned the county on Monday that if it does not certify its ballots by December 5 they will be discounted.
The Republican candidate for the US Senate, Blake Masters, and governor, Kari Lake, are projected to have been defeated in the November 8 midterms. Lake has refused to concede, claiming that many of her supporters were denied the chance to vote because of problems with voting machines in Maricopa County.
But state election officials, while acknowledging printing issues with around 20% of voting machines in Maricopa, have dismissed claims that it resulted in voters being denied the chance to cast a ballot.
Voting machines have long been the subject of far-right conspiracy theories, especially following Donald Trump's 2020 presidential election defeat, though no claims have been proven.
On November 2o it was reported that Arizona Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich had demanded that county officials provide a report on voting machine issues during the midterms.