Arizona GOP Lawmakers Call for Decertification of Election Results

Supporters of President Donald Trump demonstrate at a ‘Stop the Steal’ rally in front of the Maricopa County Elections Department office in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 7, 2020. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Republican state lawmakers in Arizona on Monday called for the decertification of Arizona’s election results.

“The election should not have been certified with the number of irregularities and allegations of fraud,” said Republican House Majority Leader Warren Petersen in a statement. “Especially troubling to me are the allegations surrounding the vendor Dominion,” the lawmaker added, referring to Dominion Voting Systems. “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.”

The group included about two-dozen Republican members and members-elect of the state Legislature. They attended a press conference on Monday where they made the call to the leaders of the state House and Senate.

Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers has pushed back against the decertification calls, saying the state Legislature “cannot and will not” overturn the results.

“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,” he said on Dec. 4.

Petersen and the other GOP lawmakers attended a meeting with President Donald Trump’s lawyers last week, where they heard witnesses alleging voter fraud or other irregularities.

One witness in the hearing, Maricopa County Republican Party Chairwoman Linda Brickman, said she saw votes at a tabulation center default from Trump to Joe Biden.

“I observed, with my Democratic partner, the preparation of a new ballot, since the original one was soiled, or wouldn’t go through the tabulators. I read her a Trump Republican ballot, and as soon as she entered it into the system, the ballot defaulted on the screen to a Biden Democratic ballot,” Brickman told GOP Arizona State legislators on Dec. 1. Brickman said she was unable to challenge the result, while also saying that the votes appeared to switch on Dominion machines.

Dominion Voting Systems has repeatedly denied allegations that votes can be switched from one candidate to another.

“We were never told what, if any corrective action was taken,” Brickman continued. “All I know is the next day, I was called outside the room that I was working in for signature verification by a supervisor who said, ‘I understand you caused some problems this week and you thought our machines were not working correctly.“ She added: “I was told at that point in time that I could not discuss anything or talk about what was going on.”

“Many people were threatened,” the chairwoman added. “They were told that their voices would be suppressed, they would have to leave the room and not work there again. I’m here because I think this is our duty to speak the truth.”

Last week, following criticism from Trump and others, Gov. Doug Ducey wrote that he believes nothing fraudulent or irregular occurred.

“I’ve been pretty outspoken about Arizona’s election system, and bragged about it quite a bit, including in the Oval Office. And for good reason,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that he believes Arizona has “some of the strongest election laws in the country, laws that prioritize accountability and clearly lay out procedures for conducting, canvassing, and even contesting the results of an election.”