After a judge ruled that Republican supervisors had violated the law by refusing to sign off on the count within the deadline, a rural Arizona county certified its midterm elections results on Thursday.

Two Republicans from Cochise County’s board of supervisors, made up of three members, resisted certification for weeks. They didn’t cite any issues with the election results. They claim that they weren’t satisfied with the certification of machines used for tabulating ballots to be eligible for use in elections. However, state and federal election officials insist they were.

Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State, filed suit Monday along with a local voter, and a group retirees. They asked for a judge’s order to force supervisors to certify election. This process is commonly known as a canvass. Hobbs stated that she must hold the statewide certification by Dec. 5, and can only delay it until Dec. 8.

Judge Casey McGinley directed the supervisors to meet within 90 minutes of the hearing. He also ordered them to approve the election canvass before the end the day.

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Supervisor Peggy Judd said that she was not ashamed of any of the actions she took. She was one of two Republicans who blocked certification twice. “And today, I feel that I must, due to a court decision and because I have my own health and circumstances in our lives, I feel like the judge must do what I did today.”

Tom Crosby (the board’s other Republican), was absent from the meeting.

Ann English, Supervisor of the board, was the only Democrat on the panel and urged the judge not to delay certifying the election. She claimed that Crosby was trying to set up a “smackdown” between the secretary-of-state and the election deniers at a Friday meeting.

English stated, “I believe it’s a circus which doesn’t have to be happening.” English said, “So I’m done. The public has had enough. If possible, I ask for swift resolution.

Voting allows for the state certification to proceed as planned on Monday.

Hobbs, a Democrat, was elected governor in November’s elections. She warned that she might have to certify statewide outcomes without Cochise County numbers if they aren’t received in the time frame. This could have tipped off several close races. The 47,000 votes in the county went to Republicans overwhelmingly.

After struggling to find someone to handle the cases, the board members represented themselves before court. The board members refused to allow the elected county attorney to handle the cases. He usually represents the board in legal disputes. Although the board had voted hours in advance to hire a Phoenix-area lawyer, he was unable to keep up with the proceedings and didn’t inform the court that he was representing the supervisors.

The Republican supervisors abandoned plans for hand counting all ballots. However, the court ruled that this would be illegal. They demanded last week from the secretary of state that they prove the legal certification of vote-counting machines before they could approve the election results. They stated that they would like to hear from them again on Monday about these concerns before they vote on certification. On Friday, a meeting will be held to discuss these concerns.

Two companies are certified by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for testing and certification of voting apparatus, such as electronic tabulators that are used in Arizona to count and read ballots.

In early 2021 conspiracy theories emerged around this process. They focused on an outdated accreditation certificate posted online for one of the companies. Federal officials conducted an investigation and found that the agency had made an administrative error. The certificate was not reissued. However, the company was still in good standing and went through audits in 2018 as well as early 2021.

Officials noted that federal law stipulates that a testing company cannot lose certification unless the commission revokes it. This did not happen.

In the meantime, a Phoenix federal judge sanctioned lawyers representing Kari Lake (the defeated Republican candidate for governor) and Mark Finchem (the secretary of state candidate for Republican), in a lawsuit that sought to require hand counting all ballots.

Judge John Tuchi, an Obama appointee was in agreement with Maricopa County lawyers who claimed the lawsuit was based upon frivolous information. He ordered the lawyers to pay the county’s legal fees.

Tuchi stated that the lawyers made “false, misleading and unsupported facts assertions” in their lawsuit. Tuchi stated that the court would not allow lawyers to “furthering false narratives which baselessly undermine public confidence” in the democratic process.

The Associated Press reached out to Lake and Finchem lawyers, which included Alan Dershowitz, a well-known Harvard Law School professor. The court was told that the claims were legal and supported by strong evidence.