Dem AG Unveils Indictment Against Republican Election Officials Who Pushed For Hand-Counting Ballots

Arizona’s Democratic attorney general announced today that a grand jury has decided to indict two election officials for conspiring to delay the certification of votes in their county over their desire to hand-count all election day and early ballots.

Peggy Judd and Terry Crosby, Republican county supervisors from Cochise County, were indicted by the state of Arizona on Nov. 29 on counts of conspiracy and interference with an election. Judd and Crosby wanted to hand count ballots in their county, citing their distrust of voting machines, and delayed the certification of their county’s election results over those concerns.

“The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable,” Attorney General Kris Mayes said of the two. “I took an oath to uphold the rule of law, and my office will continue to enforce Arizona’s elections laws and support our election officials as they carry out the duties and responsibilities of their offices.”

Mayes herself won by just 280 votes in 2022, down from a 511-vote lead before a mandatory recount, according to the Associated Press.

“I don’t feel like I broke a law,” Judd told the AP after being initially subpoenaed.  “But, obviously the courts had different feelings,” Judd added.

The indictment accuses Judd and Crosby of “conspiring to delay the canvass of votes cast in Cochise County in the General Election held on November 8, 2022.”

This isn’t the first time Democrats in Arizona have attacked people critical of the state’s elections.

Then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ office threatened to arrest and prosecute the Mohave County Board of Supervisors if they failed to certify their 2022 election results before the state’s deadline. Hobbs had recently won the state’s gubernatorial election, defeating Republican nominee Kari Lake.

Mohave County wanted more time to review election integrity issues and to hold public hearings prior to certifying their results, though ultimately complied with the state’s requests to certify on the Nov. 28, 2022, deadline.

The Arizona attorney general’s office declined to comment, referring the Daily Caller News Foundation to a press release.

Judd and Crosby did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.