Republican Arizona lawmakers said in a press release Sunday they will make a joint statement addressing the “urgent need” to decertify the state’s 2020 election results.
The group of 28 state Republican legislative members and members-elect, including Arizona House Majority Leader Warren Petersen, will announce Monday their view that the number of fraud allegations warrant an investigation.
“The election should not have been certified with the number of irregularities and allegations of fraud. Especially troubling to me are the allegations surrounding the vendor Dominion,” Petersen said in the press release. “It is imperative that a forensic audit occur immediately of the equipment and software. Upon any showing of fraud the legislature should immediately convene to decertify the vote.”
President-elect Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump in Arizona by nearly 10,500 votes, and Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed off on the election certification Nov. 30. (RELATED: Arizona, Wisconsin Certify Election Results, Affirming Narrow Biden Victories)
Why is he rushing to put a Democrat in office, especially when so many horrible things concerning voter fraud are being revealed at the hearing going on right now. @OANN What is going on with @dougducey? Republicans will long remember! https://t.co/XILGaHcyw7
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2020
Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward filed a lawsuit in November to challenge Arizona’s election results, which was permitted under state law that allows any individual to challenge election results based on allegations of misconduct. This was the 2nd election lawsuit that involved Ward.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Randall Warner said Dec. 4, as a result of the case, there is no evidence of election fraud, the Arizona Mirror reported. Based on a review of more than 1,600 Maricopa County ballots by lawyers and forensic analysts, only nine contained an error, according to Warner.
“The duplication process for the presidential election was 99.45% accurate,” he said. “And there is no evidence that the inaccuracies were intentional or part of a fraudulent scheme. They were mistakes. And given both the small number of duplicate ballots and the low error rate, the evidence does not show any impact on the outcome.”
In a separate lawsuit in Maricopa County, the state Republican Party asked for a hand recount of ballots by precinct, NBC reported. The GOP did not claim vote fraud in the suit, but challenged if the state’s audit met Arizona laws, according to NBC. There have been 7 election lawsuits filed in Arizona to date, which have not resulted in any wins for the GOP.
Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers said Dec. 4 overturning the state’s election results would be a violation of voter’s will and state law.
“Nothing in the U.S. Constitution or the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court even suggests that the Arizona Legislature could retroactively appoint different electors who would cast their ballots for 2 different candidates,” Bowers’ statement said.
