Back in 2020, Arizona was ground zero for possible election fraud, specifically in Maricopa County. Now, the board of election supervisors in Cochise County is planning to hand-count ballots to see how close that tally is to the machine count. The local prosecutor is threatening legal action if they proceed. State Democrats have already gone to court to stop any county in Arizona from hand-counting ballots. What are they afraid of? If the election was fair, the hand count will match the machine count, won’t it?
The hand count will begin as early as possible and there seems to be very little the Democrats can do about it if the supervisors in Cochise County decide that is what they want to do. And the best part is that it all fits the order of the judge who thought he had it stopped. The judge ruled two things. Number one is that they cannot count 100% of the votes in any county and secondly, they have to pick the precincts randomly.
Associated Press:
The board of supervisors in a southern Arizona county will meet next week to consider counting nearly all the ballots cast in-person on Election Day, despite an earlier court order limiting the hand-count driven by unfounded distrust in machines that tabulate votes.
The actual count may start before Tuesday’s planned meeting of the Cochise County board, and the local prosecutor is warning starting it at any time may lead to criminal charges.
The moves come just days after a judge ruled that state law bars expanding the normal small hand-count audit of early ballots. He also ruled that a 100% hand-count of Election Day ballots is illegal because any expansion for precincts chosen for those reviews must be picked at random.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELThe county will not be counting 100% of the vote. They will only be counting 99.8% of the vote and they will pick the precincts at random. Of course, this is just one county, however, if they find a significant difference in the count, they will have grounds to hand count other counties as well, but they will only need a court order. The Maricopa County supervisors do not get a say if the court orders a hand count.
Also, because of state election law, it is not possible to see if the judge’s ruling will stand up under scrutiny. His order would have to be overturned if it is in violation of Arizona state law.
There is seemingly more being revealed here than any potential flaws in Arizona’s electoral process or voting machinery. Why would Democrats be so uniformly opposed to a hand count? What is the downside of doing it? When the “official” count as tallied by the machines is finished, they can release those results immediately. But even if it takes weeks to complete the hand count, those numbers could then be matched against the machine tally.
In what universe is that a bad thing? If the counts match up (or come within a reasonable margin of error that wouldn’t change the outcome), then all is right with the world and the confidence of the voters will be enhanced. If the numbers are grossly different, then a serious problem will have been exposed and corrective measures can be taken prior to the next election. Even if it leads to the final result being changed, people will at least be able to walk away feeling that the election was fairly conducted and decided.
The great “threat to our democracy” we were lectured about in the final months before the election was an undermining of the confidence of the citizens in the electoral process. What do these Democrats think they are doing by fighting tooth and claw to prevent a hand count? It sounds to me as if people will view the Democrats as having something to hide, and will make the results seem all the less legitimate.
