Arizona elections chief seeks criminal charges vs. Cochise officials

Arizona's elections director wants prosecutors to investigate and "take appropriate enforcement actions'' against two Cochise County supervisors who refused to certify election results by the deadline as legally required.

Kori Lorick, the elections director, noted that Republican Supervisor Peggy Judd complied with the law only after being ordered to do so Thursday by a judge. She also pointed out that GOP Supervisor Tom Crosby, who was in court that day, "continued to defy his statutory responsibility as well as the court order'' by not even showing up at the board meeting ordered by Pima County Superior Court Judge Casey McGinley to vote to certify.

In her letter to Attorney General Mark Brnovich and County Attorney Brian McIntyre, Lorick laid out for them the criminal laws she believes the two supervisors violated, at least one of which carries a potential prison sentence.

"Supervisors Crosby and Judd knew they had a statutory requirement to canvass the election by Nov. 28, but instead chose to act in violation of the law, putting false election narratives ahead of Cochise County's voters,'' she wrote.

Those "false election narratives,'' Lorick said, were that the equipment the county used to tabulate the ballots was not properly certified. She said she reassured county officials before the canvass that the machines met state and federal standards.

Those claims were bogus in the first place, said Lorick, who works for Democratic Secretary of State and governor-elect Katie Hobbs. 

"Supervisor Judd even publicly acknowledged that the false claims about equipment certification were merely a pretext, saying the claims were 'the only thing we have to stand on' to not certify the canvass," she said.

'Jeopardize Arizona's democracy'

Lorick made it clear she thinks some criminal charges are merited.

"Supervisors Crosby and Judd's actions not only demonstrate a complete disregard for the law but also jeopardize Arizona's democracy,'' she told the two prosecutors who, like the supervisors, are Republicans.

"Had a court not intervened, the failure of these two supervisors to uphold their duty would have disenfranchised thousands of Cochise County voters,'' Lorick said.

That refers to her contention that the statewide canvass, set for Monday, would have had to go ahead with only the votes from the other 14 counties. The 47,284 ballots cast by Cochise County residents would not have been included in the statewide totals, a move that would have changed the results of elections for state schools chief and Congressional District 6. Loss of the Cochise County votes would, in fact, have overturned the wins of Republicans Tom Horne and Juan Ciscomani in those two races. 

"This blatant act of defying Arizona's election laws risks establishing a dangerous precedent that we must discourage,'' she wrote. "I ask that you investigate this conduct and take all necessary action to hold these public officers accountable.''

Lorick cited several laws she believes were broken.

One is a Class 3 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine, for a public official to knowingly fail or refuse to perform a duty imposed on them.

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She also cited a similar law related specifically to knowingly refusing to do what is required under election laws. It carries a presumptive sentence of a year in state prison.

There was no immediate response from either Judd or Crosby to emails or messages left on their phones.

'The lesson we can learn'

But Ann English, the third member of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors and its Democrat, told Capitol Media Services that a criminal probe — and some sort of sanctions against her errant colleagues — appears to be appropriate.

"The law was pretty specific about what we were supposed to do,'' English said, which is why she said she tried all along, as the board chair, to get Crosby and Judd to vote to certify the results. That was backed up by McIntyre, who told the board members they were legally obligated to complete the canvass — and do it by this past Monday.

"I'm certainly not vindictive,'' English said. "But I just don't know what the statement needs to be so that this doesn't become universal in all the small counties, or counties of any size. The lesson we can learn should be, 'Now, if you do this, what will happen to you.' ''

She said there never was any question about the accuracy of the results in Cochise County. Nor, English said, was there the kind of controversy about voting procedures on Election Day as Maricopa County saw. 

Instead, she said, the decision by Crosby and Judd to balk at certification was political.

"They were trying to make a statement that was fed to them by people from the outside about the equipment statewide and about Maricopa,'' English said.

What happened already is only part of the issue. Now comes the question of whether the board can continue to function effectively in the wake of the arguments about the election, the court order to certify the results and, now, a potential criminal probe of the two Republicans.

"I have two seatmates that I have to work with for the next two years,'' English said. "That was a real concern of mine.''

McIntyre did not respond to inquiries about getting the referral from Lorick. But he previously told Capitol Media Services, before the court order for the board to comply, that he was "already looking into the potential issues.''

Brnovich press aide Katie Conner said her office had not yet received the letter. She took a slap at Hobbs, with whom Brnovich has clashed previously on election issues.

"Not sure why the media would receive it before us,'' Conner said. "We decline to comment further.''