On Monday, an attorney for two members of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors filed a Special Action asking a Superior Court judge to order the County’s Elections Director, Lisa Marra, to do her job.
Supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd, through their attorney Bryan Blehm, sought the unique action due to Marra’s insistence that she would be violating Arizona law should she conduct the partial hand count of the 2022 General election ballots cast in the County.
Blehm and the supervisors argue that conducting a partial hand count is neither against the law, nor does it fall within the limits of the ruling by Judge McGinley, who found that a 100 percent hand count would be illegal.
In the Special Action filing, Blehm notes:
McGinley’s “Order does not enjoin the County Recorder or Elections Director from conducting an expanded hand count of fewer than 100% of election day ballots. Pursuant to the terms of the Order and Arizona law, the County Recorder randomly selected sixteen out of seventeen vote centers to conduct an expanded hand count of election day ballots only.
Defendant Marra has refused to comply with the Board’s lawful command to conduct an expanded hand count, to the extent authorized by this Court’s Order, by:
a. Conducting an expanded hand count herself,
b. Permitting the Recorder and his personnel from accessing the counting center to comply with the Board’s lawful command and exercise his independent legal authority, or
c. Turning the ballots over to the County Recorder so that he can comply with the Board’s lawful command and exercise his independent legal authority.”
The supervisors are seeking a writ of mandamus from the court to compel Marra to follow orders.
According to sources, while the rest of the state’s county elections directors are racing to get ballots processed, Marra’s team did not work on Sunday, despite having over 8,000 ballots ready for tabulation.
“I really don’t understand what she is doing over in her office. People want results and not only is she dragging her feet,” said one fellow County employee, “she certainly is showing little regard for the public’s waning trust in our election processes.”