An Arizona grand jury indicted two local Republican officials who balked at certifying their county’s general election results by the legal deadline in 2022 – in a standoff with state officials that drew national attention at the time.
Cochise County Supervisors Peggy Judd, 61, and Tom Crosby, 64, each were charged with two felonies: interference with an election officer and conspiracy, according to the indictment.
“The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday, announcing the indictment.
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Cochise County Supervisors Peggy Judd, 61, and Tom Crosby, 64, each were charged with two felonies: interference with an election officer and conspiracy, according to the indictment.
“The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday, announcing the indictment.
In an email, Dennis Wilenchik, an attorney representing Crosby, called the indictment “the product of nothing but political partisanship” and said he intended to “vigorously defend” his client.
At the time, the secretary of state’s office countered that the machines had been tested and certified and argued that the recalcitrant board members were advancing debunked conspiracy theories.
In early December 2022 – several days after Cochise County’s legal deadline to do so – Judd and the board’s sole Democrat voted to certify the general election results, following a court order.
Last year, public meetings in Cochise County – a Republican stronghold in southeastern Arizona – saw loud and frequent demands that local officials wield their largely ministerial certification functions to upend elections.
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