AZ County voters submit 'recall' to hold 'unfit' election supervisor accountable for delayed election results

Voters in Arizona's Cochise County are petitioning to recall election supervisor Tom Crosby who they contend "delayed certification of November 2022 election results," The Arizona Republic reports.

Crosby, a former U.S. Border Patrol agent and four-year term Board of Supervisors official, according to The Arizona Republic, asserted in an email to he's "always supported and fought for voting integrity."

Cochise County residents beg to differ, and launched the "Recall Tom Crosby Campaign," contending the former pilot "would have disenfranchised more than 47,000 residents if his efforts not to certify the November 2022 general election results had been successful."

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Arizona Public Media reports:

While a Pima County judge ordered the Cochise County Board of Supervisors to certify the election on Dec. 1 in an emergency meeting, Crosby did not attend and he did not vote in that meeting to certify. Supervisors Ann English and Peggy Judd both voted to certify, and the county’s votes were included in the state canvas.

The group's petition has less than 90 days to acquire 4,865 signatures "for the recall to move forward," according to The Arizona Republic, although they hope to hit 6,600 to solidify validity of the signatures.

According to the petition, Crosby "interfered with election officials, ignored legal advice of our county attorney, and promoted an illegal hand count of 100% of ballots," which led to "increased expenses to taxpayers," confirming the election supervisor is "unfit" to hold his position.

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The campaign chair, Eric Suchodolski, said Crosby "made a laughingstock of our county" and "is a danger to" the county's future elections.

Suchodolski added the frustration with Crosby's actions is notably bipartisan.

"I've talked to a number of Republicans that are just as unhappy, just thought this was absolutely ridiculous what had happened," he said.

Since the November election, Crosby has lamented "socialists" are "against him and said he supports the Constitution of the United States first and the Arizona Constitution second."

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Still, voters like Suchodolski are worried Crosby will manage to interfere with 2024 elections.

"Do we want this to happen again?" said Suchodolski. "He will be there for the 2024 election...We need a supervisor who's going to follow the law."

The Arizona Republic's full report is available at this link. Arizona Public Media's is here.

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