2 Arizona county officials indicted on election interference charges

An Arizona grand jury indicted two Republican county supervisors for allegedly delaying the certification of last year’s midterm elections, Arizona’s attorney general announced Wednesday.

Cochise County Supervisors Peggy Judd (R) and Tom Crosby (R) were charged with felony counts of interference with an election officer and conspiracy.

Arizona became an epicenter for GOP challenges to the 2022 midterm elections, which followed former President Trump’s unfounded claims of mass electoral fraud in the state in his re-election bid two years prior.

The indictment, returned earlier this week, accuses Judd, 61, and Crosby, 64, of preventing the timely transmission of the county’s vote returns for inclusion in the statewide canvass.

One year ago, the duo voted against certifying the county’s midterm election results before the statutory deadline to do so, citing a trio of conspiracy theorists who claimed the county’s voting machines weren’t properly accredited.

The Arizona secretary of state’s office and the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission refute the allegations.

Cochise County, a Republican-controlled jurisdiction in the state’s southeast, was the only jurisdiction to not certify by the deadline.

The three-member county board ultimately certified the results days later after a court ordered them to do so. Crosby was absent from the meeting and did not vote, but Judd voted to certify.

“The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable,” said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D), who won by the slimmest of margins in the 2022 elections.

“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 said in her statement.

The Hill has reached out to Judd and Crosby for comment.

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