Cochise County Board of Supervisors votes to delay certification of election results
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to table the certification of the Nov. 8 election results until a future meeting.
The board voted 2 to 1, with Supervisor Anne English, the board chair and the lone Democrat on the three-person panel, voting against the motion, and Republican Supervisors Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby voting to postpone.
About 50 people showed up at the meeting, which was much more subdued and polite than previous meetings on the issue. After the vote, which took six minutes of discussion, several people cheered, while others turned to their neighbors saying they were confused by what had just happened.
Monday is the last day to certify the canvass of Nov. 8 general election results, according to state law.
The vote came after Judd last week said she would certify election results.
After English and Crosby voted to accept the Nov. 8 election results, Crosby made a new motion to table the vote until Friday. Judd seconded the motion.
Crosby said Monday's meeting should have provided the opportunity for “subject matter experts” on voting machines and representatives of the secretary of state to discuss the issue.
Crosby said during the future meeting, the Secretary of State's Office and others would have the opportunity to speak for 12 minutes each. There also would be a discussion during which both sides would be able to speak on the issue for 30 minutes each, with one 12-minute conclusion by Secretary of State representatives and one by Paul Rice’s group.
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A man identifying himself as Paul Rice, of Phoenix, spoke at a Nov. 18 Cochise County Board of Supervisors' meeting and claimed this year's election and all of those since 2017 are not valid.
On Monday, Crosby criticized English and blamed the secretary of state for his choice in delaying the certification.
“In my opinion this meeting is mis-agendized,” Crosby said. “The chair is sometimes unfair, and desires to squash opposition. And the politically liberal viewpoint that may prevail in Melody Lane does not prevail in this county.”
Crosby claimed the Secretary of State's Office has not been responsive in providing proof of the lawful accreditation of voting machine laboratories, causing the delay for voting on the matter.
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Judd said she supported the motion because there was not enough discussion on the issue on Monday.
English remained resolved in her opposition to the delay, noting the board has heard from both sides on the issue multiple times and received materials necessary to make a decision on the matter.
“I feel you both have the information necessary in order to make this decision that is non-discretionary on our part to certify the election in Cochise County, no matter how you feel about what happened in Maricopa, Pima, Mohave or Apache,” she said.
Following Crosby’s motion, English called the vote on accepting the election results. English voted for the motion and Judd and Crosby voted against it.
After the meeting, English said there is no Friday meeting on the calendar and that the procedure for what happened Monday is unclear. The next Board of Supervisors meeting is Tuesday. The agenda does not include discussions on certifying the election results.
Cochise County residents at the meeting had mixed reactions.
Doug Whitney, a Sierra Vista resident, said he was confused.
“They were supposed to certify, and they tabled it so that there is going to be apparently a debate of sorts," Whitney said.
He went on to refer to a Nov. 21 letter from the secretary of state that said Cochise County voters would be disenfranchised if the board still has not certified by the Nov. 28 canvass deadline. The letter also says that the state canvass will proceed regardless of the results of the vote, as required under state law.
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“The Board of Supervisors is playing a big game of chicken with the secretary of state. The letter said they would disenfranchise Cochise County voters,” Whitney said.
Christine Rhodes, former county recorder, said the meeting was “bizarre.”
“I have to admit I don’t fully understand the procedures that went on today. I suppose the bottom line is the certification of the results of the general election did not take place,” Rhodes said, adding that she works for the Democratic Party.
Bisbee resident David Penrose just had one question about the meeting which was about Supervisor Peggy Judd, who called in through video conference.
"Why couldn’t Peggy Judd be here and face the public instead of hiding behind her computer?” he asked.
Barbara Logelin, a Sierra Vista resident, supported Crosby’s motion.
“This is an issue that needs to be discussed further. They need to look at those voting machines all around this state before they certify any of the elections,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cochise County Board of Supervisors to delay election certification
