Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Economy

Arizona county official who delayed certifying election results accepts plea deal

PHOENIX — An Arizona Republican who helped inspire national concerns over county-level certification of the 2024 presidential election pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge Monday related to a “failure or refusal” to perform her duty.

Peggy Judd, who helps lead Cochise County southeast of Phoenix, was indicted by a state grand jury a year ago for allegedly flouting the state’s deadlines to formally accept the results of the 2022 midterm general election. Judd and another Republican supervisor, Thomas Crosby, were charged with conspiracy and interfering with an election officer after an investigation by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D). Both supervisors initially pleaded not guilty.

In a plea agreement signed by Judd, she acknowledged that she “knowingly” refused to perform her duty to certify the election results by Nov. 28, 2022: “I voted to delay the canvass during a public Cochise County Board of Supervisors meeting. I knew that the canvass would be delayed if one other supervisor voted with me.”

Judd sat next to her attorney in a courtroom in downtown Phoenix as a county judge walked her through the details of her agreement. Her voice shook as she spoke her name into a microphone, telling the judge, “I’m a little nervous.”

State prosecutors asked that Judd serve unsupervised probation for 90 days, a period that extends through the certification process for the upcoming presidential election.

“If there is a failure to canvass this election,” prosecutor Todd Lawson said, the attorney general’s office could ask the court to revisit Judd’s arrangement. “That’s what essentially hangs over her,” Lawson said.

Judd’s attorney, Kurt Altman, told the judge that the supervisor, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wants to finish her term as a supervisor, “Go on a mission and put this behind her.”

Judd’s plea, which she entered in Maricopa County Superior Court, comes as election officials around the nation remain deeply concerned about similar efforts to try to delay or derail the outcome of the 2024 presidential election by trying to disrupt certification at the local level.

The effort in Cochise County two years ago failed, and the indictments that followed last November marked a rare example of possible criminal consequences for elected officials who test the limits of their authority on election-related duties. In Arizona, where election-related conspiracies took hold after Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat in the state, several other county supervisors flirted with blocking certification of their county’s outcomes during the midterm election. In Cochise, Judd and Crosby repeatedly delayed certifying their county’s results, citing Election Day problems in Maricopa County that caused confusion and chaos for some voters.

That cycle, several prominent Republicans aligned with former president Donald Trump lost their statewide campaigns, including gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem.

The secretary of state’s office sued Cochise County, and in a dramatic hearing, a judge ordered the board to meet before the close of the business day to certify.

“You will meet today,” Superior Court Judge Casey F. McGinley told the county officials at the time. “You will canvass the election no later than 5 o’clock.”

Judd and the county’s third board member, a Democrat, certified the county’s results, ending the standoff. Crosby did not show up for the certification vote. His case is ongoing.

Mayes said that Judd’s plea deal and sentencing should deter public officials from acting outside of the scope of their duties during the upcoming election.

“Any attempt to interfere with elections in Arizona will not be tolerated,” Mayes said in a statement. “My office will continue to pursue justice and ensure that anyone who undermines our electoral system is held accountable.”

Standing outside of the courtroom with family members and her legal team, Judd said that state prosecutors were trying to “make an example out of me.” She said that she always intended to certify the results of the 2022 election but that she wanted to give people who had concerns about the outcome more time to voice their concerns.

In her view, Mayes’s decision to prosecute her was driven by politics.

“It’s a purely political game,” Judd said. “If the wrong person is against you, and they don’t believe the way you do, they’re going to get you. … If we had a Republican attorney general right now, this never would have happened.”

This post appeared first on washingtonpost.com
Enter Your Information Below To Receive Free Trading Ideas, Latest News And Articles.

    Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

    You May Also Like

    Editor's Pick

    For years the North Korean playbook was obvious to the world. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea wanted to be the center of attention....

    Editor's Pick

    Real gross domestic product rose at a revised 3.2 percent annualized rate in the third quarter versus a 0.6 percent rate of decline in...

    Editor's Pick

    On April 23, 1985, the Coca-Cola Company made one of the biggest mistakes in American business history: it changed the formula for Coca-Cola. Outraged...

    Editor's Pick

    After the final lecture of my Fall 2022 International Economic Policy course (an undergraduate offering meant to introduce non-economics majors to the economics of...



    Disclaimer: impactofincome.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.


    Copyright © 2024 impactofincome.com