Arizona Senate President Karen Fann: Decertification Is an Option If AG ‘Finds Huge Differences in the Vote Count’

Many Arizonans are concerned that if there is clear evidence of massive voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election race in Arizona, the election will need to be decertified. Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott) reaffirmed this during an interview with web-based show The Undercurrent. Fann appeared to be under the perception the reporter was a conservative.

Undercurrent reporter Lauren Windsor asked Fann about the investigation into the independent Maricopa County ballot audit by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who has produced a preliminary interim report. “Is Brnovich taking this seriously, is he going to certify?” Windsor asked.

Fann responded:

His job is not to decertify, I never said that. His job is to verify the information we give him, gave him, to show that it was true and correct. Then he’s going to take that information and say, now, was that done fraudulently, did somebody do this on purpose? Did they mess with ballots or what it is that we found? Or is he going to say it was just ineptness, people were not doing their job. That’s his job to determine. Now, if it is something of the nature that needs to go to court – and I believe either way, my opinion, I’m not an attorney – but I believe, as long as he verifies our information, it has to go to court, because it’s not now just about was it fraudulent or not, it was the fact that he now verified that all of our information we gave him is correct, and therefore the election is uncertifiable because we don’t know who won and we need to have a new election, we need to do something.

The reporter pressed her for clarification, and Fann responded, “Well, the courts would say, what’s our remedy? Do we have a new election? Do we decertify? Do we throw people in jail? The courts will make a decision.”

Windsor asked which court would decide, and Fann said it would start in Maricopa County Superior Court but ultimately go all the way to the Supreme Court. Fann said it would not happen before the midterm elections.

Fann went on about how important it is to take back the White House in 2024, as well as Congress, and said Republicans in the Arizona Legislature need more than a one-vote majority in both Houses. She said one Senator [referring to State Senator Paul Boyer (R-Glendale)] kept killing all of the election integrity bills, including a vote to hold the Maricopa County Supervisors in contempt.

Windsor described the interview in her tweet incorrectly, making it appear that Fann said the election is uncertifiable and that the Supreme Court was going to address it. Fann tweeted a correction at her, “This is absolutely not correct and I never said that. You are misconstruing info about when asked, what options may be available IF the AG finds huge differences in the vote count.”

Yes, Every Kid

Fann has made previous comments expressing skepticism that the state legislature could decertify on its own, without the courts getting involved. A year ago in May, she told a constituent regarding the audit, “This absolutely has nothing to do with Trump. The election cannot be overturned. This audit is only about election integrity, answering their questions, and hopefully proving there was nothing wrong with the election. Media is spinning this into something it’s not.”

Similarly, she said during the hearing revealing the results of the audit last July, “The important thing that we wanted to make sure that everybody knew, which we told you, as well, at the beginning, is this is not about Trump. This is not about overturning the election. This has never been about anything other than election integrity.”

Fann explained the need for additional adjudication outside of the state legislature during an interview with J.T. Harris of Conservative Circus last July, She clarified that the courts would first need to determine that the election was fraudulent, then the Arizona Legislature could decertify. First of all, “whether it was intentional [or] non-intentional … then the courts will say okay, you’ve proven your case and we find that it is true.” Next, “what happens then, is that the House and the Senate, the Arizona House and Senate bodies, would have to put up a resolution on the board.” Finally, that resolution would then “take a simple majority that would quote, ‘decertify,’ and turn it over to the Attorney General’s office for prosecution.”

In February, Fann told The Gateway Pundit’s Jordan Conradson that there wasn’t a mechanism to decertify the election, but she appeared to be referring to the state legislature merely acting on its own. Conradson asked her if State Representative Mark Finchem’s (R-Oro Valley) bill to decertify the election would accomplish that, and Fann responded, “But it’s past the time, you can’t do retroactive.” Finchem’s bill was killed in the House by House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R-Mesa). Fann explained to Conradson that attorneys and judges told her there’s no way to decertify.

When Conradson asked her after the interview if there was a way to nullify the election – perhaps implying there was a way outside of the state legislature – Fann told him she would need to consult with attorneys.

Constitutional attorney John Eastman laid out a path for the Arizona Legislature to decertify the election last July. During an appearance on Steve Bannon’s WarRoom podcast, Eastman said, “We can point to the Hawaii election of 1960, when the governor subsequently certified another slate of electors after they discovered error in the initial certification.” He cited Section 2 of Title 3 of the United States Code, which allows the state legislature to choose a slate of electors if the state fails to choose a winner in the presidential election. Additionally, common-law fraud could apply, he said.

Several prominent Arizona political leaders have called to decertify the election, including Finchem, leading Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, and State Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff). Fourteen legislators co-sponsored Finchem’s bill. Former President Donald Trump called to decertify Arizona’s election in November. Brnovich is continuing his investigation into the results of the audit and will be issuing more reports in the future. He said some people have already been prosecuted and there are more charges coming against others.

Fann did not respond to a request for comment before this article went to publication.

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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Karen Fann” and Background Photo “Arizona Capitol” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.

 

 

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