Seventeen Republican Legislators from around the state, many of whom are among the chamber’s more conservative members, have written to Arizona Republican Chairman Kelli Ward, insisting that she open up the ballots on her own re-election campaign or drop out of efforts to promote election integrity in Arizona.
“We urge you to heed the calls of your voters and allow for an immediate audit of the election that was held on January 23rd, in a manner that is fair and transparent. Or we would ask that you remove yourself from efforts to properly audit the elections held in Arizona on November 4th, 2020, as you would be an unwelcome distraction and foil for the media to use to discredit our efforts to protect our state’s voters.” reads the last paragraph of the letter, which stems from an ongoing crisis in the Arizona Republican Party centered around Ward’s “victory” in the January 23rd state organizational meeting.
Ward narrowly beat Latinos for Trump National Advisory Board Member Sergio Arellano by 42 votes, but has been adamant that she will not allow for any audit, any inspection of records from the meeting, any confirmation that all ballots are accounted for, or any confirmation that the ballot count from the meeting was accurate.
Given the way Ward has tried to lead the charge in Arizona to demand election integrity since the November election, the double standard has given the media ample ammunition to attack Republican efforts to advance election integrity measures, including the pursuit of an audit of the ballots from Maricopa County, a point noted in the letter: “Now, our collective message is being undermined by your insistence that none of these standards should apply to your election as AZ GOP Chairman. This inconsistency is simply not acceptable.”
The full letter appears below, was sent by Representative Kevin Payne, and was signed by Senators Gray, Leach, Shope and Representatives Bolick, Carroll, Cobb, Dunn, Fillmore, Finchem, Nguyen, Nutt, Osbourne, Pingerelli, Roberts, Toma, and Wilmeth. State Senator Paul Boyer also apparently signed on, but the letter was sent to Ward before his name was added.
The AZGOP continues to not answer media questions on this matter, but hearing from so many elected officials might encourage Ward to finally open up the process and confirm the AZGOP’s election results.
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