Photo: Alamy
Democrat Katie Hobbs is using her power as state secretary of state to file a lawsuit against election officials who challenge the certification of her self-proclaimed gubernatorial victory in Arizona, according to recent reports.
Votebeat reporter Jen Fifield tweeted Hobbs would file charges against election supervisors in Cochise County on Monday, hours after they had announced their intent to delay the certification of the county’s results.
The Arizona secretary of state “will take all available legal action, including filing a special action to compel the Board’s compliance,” according to a letter sent to Cochise County supervisors from state elections director Kori Lorick.
Marc Elias, Hillary Clinton’s top campaign lawyer who falsely claimed that President Trump colluded with Russia to win the presidency in 2016, has also sued the county, tweeting, “Cochise will be sued.”
Hobbs defied historic political odds earlier this month after pulling ahead of Republican Kari Lake. The secretary of state, who refused to recuse herself, eeked out a lead that she alleges is a win, despite that she held events that were generally unattended by constituents, received low polling scores, and refused to debate Lake.
Hobbs is now taking legal action against those who question the election results.
Cochise is the only county in Arizona that has not certified its election results by the deadline on Monday. Mohave County had initially refused to certify but then unanimously did so after they were reportedly threatened with arrests by Hobbs.
“I vote aye under duress,” Mohave County Chairman Ron Gould said. “I found out today that I have no choice but to vote aye or I’ll be arrested and charged with a felony. I don’t think that’s what our founders had in mind when they used the democratic process to elect our leaders, our form of self-governance. I find that very disheartening.”
Arizona has become the center of attention following various reports of election discrepancies that Republicans, including President Trump, maintain took place during the presidential election in 2020.
This year, 20 percent of polling stations in Maricopa County faced issues with their machines in what some have claimed as an attempt by Hobbs to disenfranchise Lake Republicans.