Arizona GOP Accuses County Recorder of Destroying Evidence as Votes Counted in Tight Senate Race

The chairman of the Arizona Republican party Jonathan Lines accused Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes of destroying evidence Friday by not separating ballots from “emergency voting centers” which state Republicans are challenging as the vote count is ongoing in the tight Senate race between Rep. Martha McSally (R) and Democratic candidate Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.

In a Sunday letter, the GOP wrote to all of the recorders that “state law does not allow recorders to offer early voting after the Friday prior to Election Day except in specifically-defined emergency situations.”

However, “the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office offered ’emergency voting’ from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Monday for voters who could not make it to the polls on Election Day,” according to the Arizona Republic. “The Recorder’s Office said it allowed voters to determine what constitutes an emergency.”

Fontes would not say whether ballots from the emergency vote centers were “segregated” but told the Republic that it would be “nearly impossible” for him to do so, claiming the ballots cast on Saturday are “likely already combined with other ballots cast at early voting locations.”

Republicans also filed a lawsuit Wednesday against county recorders over the way in which they’re counting mail-in ballots. The lawsuit, filed by Republican parties in four counties, challenged the manner in which counties verify signatures on the mail-in ballots. (Read more from “Arizona GOP Accuses County Recorder of Destroying Evidence as Votes Counted in Tight Senate Race” HERE)

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