Two Arizona Republicans were indicted Wednesday on charges they conspired to delay the certification of the state’s 2022 election results.
The state’s attorney general, Kris Mayes, said a grand jury had indicted Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd, two supervisors for rural Cochise County. Last year, the pair moved to delay the count of ballots cast in the county, but they were quickly sued by then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. They later voted to delay the certification of the results, even though they cited no issue with the votes in the heavily Republican region, as a form of protest against the election outcome statewide.
They eventually backed down amid a court order, but the episode prompted concern about the spread of former President Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about the legitimacy of American elections. Despite his repeated claims of fraud whenever Republicans seem to lose, there is no evidence of widespread malfeasance.
“The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable,” Mayes, a Democrat, said in a statement. “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.”
If convicted, Crosby and Judd face up to 2.5 years in prison and a $150,000 fine, according to the Arizona Republic. They face two felony counts, one for conspiracy and one for interference with an election officer.
Last year, Judd told The New York Times the pair had moved to stymie the certification of the state’s results because small counties were “sick and tired of getting kicked around and not being respected.” She cited conspiracy theories that voting machines in the state were illegal but later told the Times the delay was largely just a protest against counties with strong Democratic support.
She said at the time, “It’s the only thing we have to stand on.”