Arizona county officials were indicted and charged with interference for allegedly conspiring to delay the results of the midterm elections in 2022.
The two Republicans who lead a rural county in southern Arizona were indicted by a state grand jury this week. The case revolves around their attempt to formally defy last year's deadline to accept the midterms' results.
Arizona County Officials Indicted
In a statement on Wednesday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the felony indictments of Cochise County Supervisors Peggy Judd and Terry Thomas "Tom" Crosby. The two officials are charged with conspiracy and interference with an election officer.
The indictment against the two officials states that they conspired to delay the canvass of their county's votes. This caused chaos that could have undermined the projected victories of Republicans in a U.S. House seat and the statewide race for school superintendent.
Eventually, the three-member Cochise County board voted to certify the results of the midterm elections, but only after a judge ordered them to do so. Following the revelation of the indictment, Judd did not respond to requests for comments.
On the other hand, Dennis Wilenchik, an attorney representing Crosby, said that it was "the product of nothing but political partisanship." As per the Washington Post, he said he intends to "vigorously defend" his client.
Wilenchik added that the conspiracy is solely based on an alleged agreement to interfere that he said is non-existent because there was none. He added that it was not under any unlawful end, even if it did exist.
The latest indictments mark the most recent example of potential criminal consequences in battleground Arizona. The state is where election-related conspiracy theories have flourished since former United States President Donald Trump's loss in 2020.
County officials, state lawmakers, and GOP candidates have continued to try and reject election outcomes and procedures. Now, public officials are deeply concerned about any potential efforts to delay or derail the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
Alleged Election Interference
The two felonies that the county officials are accused of are both Class 5 felonies, which means that they carry prison terms of six months to two and a half years. Mayes said that the repeated attempts to undermine democracy are "unacceptable," according to NBC News.
If Cochise did not certify its results by the statewide deadline and the state was forced to affirm its election results without including the county's 47,000 voters, Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani would have lost his race for the US House.
Arizona's state elections director, Kori Lorick, said in a letter that Crosby and Judd's actions demonstrated a complete disregard for the law and threatened the state's democracy. She said that had a court not intervened, the failure would have disenfranchised thousands of Cochise County voters.
The judge who ordered the county board to make its results official previously said that the Republican-controlled panel exceeded its lawful authority in delaying the vote. After that, the board did not find any legitimate issues with the county's 2022 election counts, said NPR.
