Unless a Pima or Cochise county supervisor steps up and asks their fellow board members to reconsider their decision to ignore the voters of CD2, it will be up Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett to decide whether or not to disenfranchise voters in the tight race between Republican Martha McSally and incumbent Ron Barber.
On Thursday, both Pima and Cochise County officials were asked by the Barber campaign to count the votes of registered voters in Southern Arizona whose votes have not been counted and should be.
In Cochise County, the Barber campaign offered signed declarations from nine voters whose votes have not been counted. Additionally, the campaign contends that 11 other voters whose early ballots were not signed should have the opportunity to remedy their ballots. In Pima County, the Barber campaign offered 15 new signed declarations from voters whose votes have not been counted, in addition to the 132 signed declarations that were made public on Tuesday. While both counties have certified the vote count, the Barber campaign has now provided 156 declarations from Southern Arizonans who are still waiting for their votes to be counted.
Barber campaign attorney Kevin Hamilton told the listening audience of the James T. Harris radio show on Wednesday that the claims by Pima County Election Department director Brad Nelson that all the votes had been counted was untrue. “It’s not right. There over 750 provisional ballots that were not counted during the course of the canvas of this election, and what the county’s job is right now. Is to be canvassing the returns to ensure that every lawfully cast ballot has been counted.” Hear the interview here.
Pima County voters, for years, have known that having their vote count was a hit-or-miss proposition, however, the county’s failures were swept under the rug. Because the McSally Barber race is so close; a mere difference of 161 votes, the incompetence of the County’s Elections Department has finally come to light.
“Southern Arizonans who registered to vote and showed up to vote on Election Day deserve to have their voices heard,” said Kyle Quinn-Quesada, campaign manager for Ron Barber for Congress. “Mistakes happen in every election, and in a race this close, the right thing to do is to rectify those mistakes by counting every lawful vote.”
Hamilton’s letter advising of the disenfranchised voters was dropped off by hand to each of the Supervisor’s offices on the morning of the meeting, and copies of the materials were available at the Supervisor’s meeting, according to the Barber for Congress campaign.