COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. — The Cochise County Board of Supervisors certified its 2022 election results Thursday after a days-long legal battle that ended with a judge ordering the Arizona county to canvass the election.
The board's two Republican members previously chose to delay canvassing the county's election results past the Nov. 28 deadline, resulting in the Arizona Secretary of State's taking the board to court.
On Thursday, Judge Casey McGinley ruled the board had "exceeded its lawful authority" by not certifying the election results on time and ordered the board to hold an emergency meeting by the end of the day.
The judge said the supervisors failed to present evidence demonstrating they had the legal authority to not canvass the results on time.
Republican Peggy Judd and Democrat Ann English complied with the order and voted to certify the election results.
Republican Supervisor Tom Crosby was notably not in attendance during Thursday's meeting.
Judd, who had earlier supported stalling the certification, suggested she will continue fighting to ensure elections are conducted fairly.
"I am not ashamed of anything I did," Judd said Thursday.
The Secretary of State's office is now expected to canvass the state's results on Monday, Dec. 5.
The board's initial refusal to approve election results in the Republican-leaning county had threatened to disenfranchise almost 50,000 Cochise residents and possibly overturn the victories of at least two Republican candidates - Juan Ciscomani, in the 6th Congressional District, and Tom Horne, the next state school superintendent.