Arizona Votes To Certify Election Results
ARIZONA — Nearly a month after the Nov. 3 election and following multiple legal challenges — including one pending lawsuit — Arizona has voted to certify its election results.
The state's 11 Electoral College votes will go to President-elect Joe Biden, who defeated President Donald Trump in Arizona by a margin of 10,457 votes. Biden is only the second Democrat in 70 years to win Arizona.
The canvass took place after all of the state's 15 counties voted to certify ahead of Monday's deadline. All states must certify before the Electoral College meets on Dec. 14, and any challenge to the results must be resolved by Dec. 8.
Four lawsuits challenging Arizona's election, all of them in Maricopa County, have been tossed out by judges. A fifth, brought by Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, is expected to be heard in court Monday shortly after the state's canvass. Ward is seeking an inspection of mail-in ballot signatures and duplicated ballots in Phoenix, alleging that election officials didn't give legal observers enough access to ballot processing.
The Maricopa County Elections Department and the Board of Supervisors confirmed at their Nov. 20 canvass that members of all three major political parties in the state were involved throughout the vote counting process.
Only Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, spoke at the canvass. Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel, who was appointed by former Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, and Elections Director Bo Dul were also present.
Before the election results were certified, Hobbs spoke of the "historic" election and went through the ways the state made sure the election went on during the coronavirus pandemic with "transparency, accuracy and fairness" despite "numerous unfounded claims to the contrary."
She spoke of the logic and accuracy testing all election tabulation equipment underwent before and after the election in each county, which was publicly announced and overseen by members from each political party. Each party was required to have representatives at all voting center and were allowed to have observers present as well.
There were also observers in each tabulation room as the vote counting took place, which was also live streamed online for anyone to watch.
The state also expanded access to voting through ballot drop-off boxes and curbside locations to help vulnerable populations vote during the pandemic. Hobbs said 3.42 million ballots were cast in the 2020 election, surpassing the totals from 2016 and 2018. 88 percent of those ballots were cast early.
"Arizonans showed up for democracy," she said.
Ducey echoed Hobbs' emphasis on Arizona's election transparency.
"We do elections well here in Arizona," he said. "The system is strong. Other states explored and experimented ... Arizona did not."
The governor also confirmed that he will sign documents Monday to have Arizona Sen.-elect Mark Kelly sworn in by Wednesday. Because Kelly won a special election to serve out the remainder of the late Sen. John McCain's term, he will be sworn in earlier than other incoming senators.
The canvass went off without a hitch, with Hobbs, Ducey, Brnovich and Brutinel signing and sealing the certification.
But some state Republicans are still questioning the legality of the election.
According to a press release by state Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, a gathering at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Phoenix is intended “to hear testimony and view evidence related to allegations of electoral compromise related to the 2020 election.” The event began just before the canvass.
The event was billed as a “fact-finding hearing” featuring members of Trump’s legal team, including Rudy Guiliani, who appeared virtually, and members of the Arizona Legislature, but top leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature told The Associated Press that the planned gathering was not an official legislative event.
The Arizona Legislature is not in session and Senate President Karen Fann said neither she nor House Speaker Rusty Bowers, authorized fellow Republican lawmakers to hold a hearing at the Capitol on the election.
“So they found a site off-site to hold it,” Fann said.
Ward and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, said they will be in attendance.
The U.S. Constitution gives the Legislature the job of deciding how the state's presidential electors will be chosen. But the Arizona Legislature has tasked voters with choosing those electors on Election Day. The state Legislature can't change the state's electors without a change in law.
Tensions have been high in the state post-election, with Trump supporters protesting outside of the Maricopa County vote counting center and alleging election fraud. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs reported receiving violent threats against herself and her family, and accused Gov. Doug Ducey of "deafening silence" as Arizona's election system has been called into question.
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey declined to declare a winner in the state's election until all pending lawsuits had been resolved. On Tuesday, prior to Ward's lawsuit, Ducey acknowledged for the first time that President-elect Joe Biden won Arizona.
The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.
This article originally appeared on the Across Arizona Patch
