The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office on Friday asked state and local prosecutors to investigate and take enforcement action against two Republican officials who had balked at certifying their county’s election results by the legal deadline.
In the referral letter, State Elections Director Kori Lorick said Cochise County Supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd “knew they had a statutory requirement to canvass the election by November 28, but instead chose to act in violation of the law, putting false election narratives ahead of Cochise County’s voters.”
The supervisors’ “blatant act of defying Arizona’s election laws risks establishing a dangerous precedent that we must discourage,” Lorick wrote in the letter sent to Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre. “I ask that you investigate this conduct and take all necessary action to hold these public officers accountable.”
When reached by phone Friday, Judd said: “I’m not talking to anyone anymore. Sorry.” CNN also has reached out to Crosby for comment.
Brnovich’s office confirmed via email that it had received the letter but did not add further comment.
McIntyre did not immediately respond to CNN’s inquiry.
The referral comes a day after Judd and the board’s sole Democrat, Chairwoman Ann English, voted to certify the midterm election results after a judge ordered them to do so – guaranteeing that the county’s roughly 47,000 general election votes would be included in next week’s certification of statewide results.