An Arizona election official who resigned from her former position in Cochise County over her refusal to hand count ballots in the 2022 elections is now the statewide election director after a promotion from Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.
Lisa Marra was appointed by Fontes to become the Arizona Elections Director and will oversee equipment testing, candidate filings, election night reporting and canvassing during the 2024 elections.
Read the full story
The Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC) unanimously passed a resolution on December 5 calling on the Arizona House of Representatives to impeach Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes. The resolution cited Mayes’ record opposing election integrity, notably her prosecution of two Cochise County Supervisors over delaying the certification of the 2022 election for three days.
The MCRC executive board and all legislative district chairs voted for the resolution, which began, “WHEREAS, We, the Executive Guidance Committee of the Maricopa County Republican Committee, condemn Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ illegitimate political prosecution of the brave elected officials of Cochise County, Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby, for acting in accordance with their oath of office.” It accused Mayes of “abusing her prosecutorial powers as the Arizona Attorney General,” by engaging in “an act of political prosecution common in dictatorships or communist countries.”
Read the full story
Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, who narrowly won her election by only 280 votes, the closest statewide race in Arizona’s history, has convinced a grand jury to indict two Cochise County Supervisors for briefly delaying certification of the 2022 election in order to investigate the laws that were broken. Cochise County Supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd, both Republicans, also unsuccessfully attempted to conduct a hand count of the election. Mayes sued them over the delay last November.
“The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable,” Mayes said in a press release. She said the indictment alleged that “on or between October 11, 2022, and December 1, 2022, Judd and Crosby conspired to delay the canvass of votes cast in Cochise County in the November 2022 General Election.” She said this also interfered with the Secretary of State’s statewide canvassing.
Read the full story
Santa Cruz County Judge Thomas Fink denied a request from Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes to temporarily block the Cochise County Supervisors from delegating election responsibilities to Cochise County Recorder David Stevens. Mayes filed a lawsuit against the supervisors on March 7, alleging that they did not have the authority to make the agreement earlier this year. However, the Maricopa County Supervisors delegated those responsibilities to the Maricopa County Recorder for years until recently, and Yuma County still does.
In turning down Mayes’ request for an injunction, Fink said the state had not met its burden of showing there was an “unqualified transfer of statutory power.” He said the agreement had provisions to serve as “safeguards that are, in the court’s opinion, sufficient to ensure the board meets authority over the conduct of elections in Cochise County.”
Read the full story
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Cochise County Supervisors for delegating election duties to Cochise County Recorder David Stevens, an election integrity proponent. However, from the 1950s to 2019, Maricopa County had an agreement with its county recorder to oversee elections. Three other counties delegate those responsibilities to their recorders as well.
Jennifer Wright, who served as the Election Integrity Unit’s civil attorney under previous Attorney General Mark Brnovich, tweeted, “So, will @krismayes also be suing @maricopacounty for their MOU delegating BOS responsibilities to the CR? Anyone remember when Fontes was stripped of BOS delegated responsibilities, the press lamented how elections were 100% the CR’s job? Oh, the hypocrisy. #AbuseOfPower”
Read the full story
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 on Tuesday to turn over management of elections to Cochise County Recorder David Stevens. Cochise County made national headlines last fall when the board attempted to conduct a full hand count of the midterm election and tried to delay certification of the results.
Read the full story
Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre was arrested early in the morning on January 28 for a “super extreme” DUI. McIntyre, who became nationally known for feuding with the Cochise County Supervisors over their efforts to conduct a hand count of ballots during the 2022 midterm election and reject their vote certifying the results, blew a .21 BAC, more than twice the legal limit.
Fernando “Jack” Dona, Master Sergeant, US Army (Retired), a retired U.S. Army Intelligence Electronic Warfare Aviation Field Systems Engineer and former Staff Sergeant Major of the Training Development and Support Directorate at the U.S. Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, called for McIntyre to resign. “Sir, if you had any honor and integrity you would have already immediately resigned your position as County Attorney, and thrown yourself at the mercy of the court. The above video of your arrest for EXTREME DUI is an absolute disgrace and embarrassment to Cochise County, Arizona.
Read the full story