Arizona county reverses decision to hand-count all ballots

The Cochise County Board of Supervisors, Arizona, reversed its decision to hand-count all ballots during the midterm elections and instead chose to only hand-count a few.

According to KOLD 13 News, the sudden reversal was made after Secretary of State Katie Hobbs threatened to sue the county if it continued with the plan approved earlier in the week. Cochise County’s attorney stated that he would not represent it in any lawsuits. Faced with this pressure, the board called an emergency meeting and voted to reverse their Monday 2-1 vote, opting for only a partial count.

According to the news outlet, Allie Bones said that there is no law that would allow them to count all ballots. “You can’t do what you want.”

She said, “We have very descriptive laws and procedures when it is about election’s administration.” These things must be observed.”

The previous decision’s supporters argued that hand-counting ballots would prevent errors by counting machines. Opponents claimed that it would not be as reliable and take longer than machine counting.

Kari Lake, the Republican candidate to be Arizona’s governor, expressed her support for the board’s decision and urged all of Arizona follow her lead. Lake is running against Hobbs.