A federal judge has blocked an Arizona rule aimed at enforcing timely finalizing of election results, ruling that the state can’t simply exclude a county’s results if local officials there refuse to certify them, and noting the various legal alternatives that should make the rule unnecessary.
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes had added the rule to the state’s most recent Election Procedures Manual, giving the secretary the power to move forward with the statewide certification without a county’s results.
But following a challenge to the rule led by conservative groups, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi ruled Friday that Fontes’ office did not address why the additional rule was needed when there are “various alternatives available to the State to ensure finality and prevent disenfranchisement of all voters.”
Liburdi’s order included a detailed explanation of those options to ensure all votes are counted on time.
For example, Fontes, a Democrat, can sue county supervisors and ask a judge to immediately force them to certify, and the state can bring criminal charges against the supervisors personally — both of which happened in connection with the 2022 election….