The aftermath of the 2020 presidential election has been a whirlwind of fraud accusations. However, officials in one of the most contentions counties now claim evidence of fraud just isn’t there.
Officials in Maricopa County, Arizona, touted that the state’s attorney general’s report finds “no new evidence” that would change the 2020 election results, the Washington Examiner reported. This comes after a lengthy investigation into claims of a rigged election.
Former President Donald Trump has continually claimed that fraud cost him his re-election. He specifically targeted Arizona where three House of Representative Republicans from the state had voted against certifying the election results, NBC News reported.
“It’s far more than necessary to win the state of Arizona,” Trump said at a rally in January. “I think he’s a good man. I think he’s going to do his job,” Trump said of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich who ultimatley issued the report.
Now Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Bill Gates and County Recorder Stephen Richer are taking a victory lap that the interim report failed to uncover serious fraud. “We’ve spent nearly eight months cooperating with the AG’s office,” they said.
“Our election professionals have worked day and night to gather the information responsive to both Mr. Brnovich’s civil and criminal inquiries,all while running two safe, secure, and accurate jurisdictional elections during that time period,” they said in a statement. They’ve concluded that “the AG has not identified even a single instance where a ballot was accepted with a non-matching signature (or signature that was later cured).”
The attorney general’s report did find that there were issues with ballot security and counting as well as problems verifying voters which need to be addressed. However, Gates and Richer stressed that it wasn’t enough to “question the overall health” of the process.
It’s difficult to ignore the problems that arose during the 2020 presidential election, including instances of provable fraud. However, it’s equally as difficult to prove to an overarching pattern or scheme that would negate the results — even if questions still remain.
