Arizona attorney general attacks full hand counting, as two counties consider it for 2024 elections

The practice of hand counting ballots in Arizona has become contentious as the Democratic state attorney general threatened Mohave County with “criminal prosecution” while a state appeals court has prohibited Cochise County from hand counting all ballots in future elections. The two counties in Arizona have considered hand counting all ballots in elections, rather than just sample hand recounts after using machines to tabulate ballots.

In August, the Mohave County Board of Supervisors considered hand counting the 2024 elections. However, the board decided against it after the county elections department claimed a full hand count of elections would be unfeasible and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) sent a letter to the supervisors, warning them the would be violating the law by conducting a full hand count.

The board reconsidered the hand count this month after attorney Bryan Blehm, who has represented former Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake in her election lawsuits, sent the supervisors a letter saying that he would represent them at "no cost" in any potential lawsuits that resulted from choosing to hand count, The Arizona Republic reported.

On Monday, the Mohave County Board of Supervisors voted against hand counting ballots in the 2024 elections after Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) sent a letter to them on Sunday, advising against hand counting saying it would violate the law.

“Those encouraging you to hand count elections results are encouraging you to violate the law,” Mayes wrote in her letter to the board, after referencing Blehm. “In addition to the above civil remedies, you should be aware that an illegally expanded hand count may result in various felony and misdemeanor criminal penalties. We hope you will choose not to violate the law and thus that it will not be necessary for us to consider whether criminal prosecution is warranted for conducting an illegal hand count.”

The supervisors voted down the hand count proposal 3-2 on Monday, after a hearing for public comment lasted for more than an hour, according to The Arizona Republic.

Abe Hamadeh, a GOP candidate for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, told the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show on Tuesday that Mayes' “trying to ban hand counts for these counties … just suggests that this is a cover up, and they're trying to really solidify the election process that they've been rigging for such a long time."

"But it's really disheartening to see them trying to exert this amount of pressure, they try to bankrupt these counties, they try to threaten them with criminal prosecution,” Hamadeh added.

While Mohave County decided against hand counting its elections for next year, Cochise County is also facing opposition to hand counting its elections.

Last month, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled against Cochise County, saying that the county didn’t have authority to attempt to hand count all ballots cast in last year’s general election.

County officials had also sought to hand count future elections, which the court also rejected.

Mayes subpoenaed two Cochise County supervisors last month for initially refusing to certify the 2022 midterm election, ordering them to appear before a grand jury earlier this month, according to The Arizona Republic. The supervisors wanted to delay certification of the election to hear evidence regarding whether the county voting machines were properly certified.

County Supervisor Chairman Peggy Judd, who was subpoenaed by Mayes, declined to comment on Tuesday, on her attorney’s advice. Vice-chairman Tom Crosby, who also received a subpoena, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Former Arizona Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright, who worked in former state Attorney General Mark Brnovich's (R) office, disagrees with Mayes' interpretation of the state statutes.

Wright told Just the News on Tuesday that according to her reading of state statutes, the law was first “written when the only way to count ballots was via hand. Eventually, statutes were amended to allow counties, if they choose, to invest in machine tabulators, but never required for counties to invest and use them.”

Wright explained that all counties eventually chose to use machine ballot tabulators, but that there is “nothing in the law prohibiting them from stopping using machine tabulators.”

She added that she believes it to be “highly unusual” for a court to find “a criminal violation when the statutory provisions allow for hand counts.”

Reasonable minds can read the statutes differently, Wright said, so it’s hard to say someone is criminally violating the law when there is “ambiguity in the law.”

She also noted that to claim anyone could be thrown in jail over hand counts is a “heavy bat to be wielding.”