LAWFARE: Arizona AG Announces Indictment Of GOP Election Officials Who Wanted To Hand-Count Votes

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, announced Wednesday that a grand jury has decided to indict two Republican election officials who wanted to hand-count all election day and early voting ballots.

Peggy Judd and Terry Crosby, both of whom have served as Republican supervisors in Cochise County, were indicted by the state of Arizona on November 29 on charges of conspiracy and election interference. The officials had called for a hand-count of the county’s ballots, citing distrust of machines due to well-documented issues in Maricopa County, and opted to delay the certification of the election due to their concerns.

“The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable,” Mayes’ office wrote in a press release. “I took an oath to uphold the rule of law, and my office will continue to enforce Arizona’s elections laws and support our election officials as they carry out the duties and responsibilities of their offices.”

“The indictment filed November 27, 2023, in Maricopa County Superior Court alleges that on or between October 11, 2022, and December 1, 2022, Judd and Crosby conspired to delay the canvass of votes cast in Cochise County in the November 2022 General Election,” the release continues. “The Indictment further alleges that Judd and Crosby knowingly interfered with the Arizona Secretary of State’s ability to complete the statewide canvass for the 2022 General Election, by preventing the canvass of votes from Cochise County from occurring during the time period required by Arizona law.”

Mayes narrowly won her own election in 2022, defeating Republican challenger Abe Hamadeh by just 280 votes. Hamadeh, who is currently running for a congressional seat in the Grand Canyon State, has condemned his former opponents brazen use of her office as a chilling abuse of power.

“Third world elections lead to third world dictators,” Hamadeh wrote in an X post. “Mayes is a fraud, she didn’t receive the most votes – and she knows it.”

“I don’t feel like I broke a law,” Judd told the Associated Press after receiving a subpoena earlier this year. “But, obviously the courts had different feelings,” she added.

The indictment accuses Crosby and Judd of “conspiring to delay the canvass of votes cast in Cochise County in the General Election held on November 8, 2022.”

Arizona Democrats have repeatedly threatened to imprison election officials who do not hastily certify elections. Prior to her election as governor, Katie Hobbs vowed to arrest and imprison members of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors if they opted not to certify the county’s election prior to the state’s deadline.

Mohave County officials wanted more time to review election irregularities and conduct public hearings, though they ultimately complied with the demands.