Arizona secretary of state certifies election results with Biden winning state's 11 electoral votes
Arizona officials certified the results of the state’s election on Monday, confirming Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state and clearing the way for Mark Kelly to take his seat in the U.S. Senate this week. Secretary of State Katie Hobbs touted high turnout despite the election unfolding in the middle of a pandemic. Voters cast more than 3.2 million ballots and turnout neared 80%, a 23% increase from the midterm election two years ago and an 8% increase from the last presidential election in 2016, Hobbs said. "Despite the unprecedented challenges, Arizonans showed up for our democracy," Hobbs said. "Every Arizona voter has my thanks and should know they can stand proud that this election was transparency, accuracy and fairness in accordance with Arizona’s laws and election procedures, despite numerous unfounded claims to the contrary."
Hobbs, a Democrat, signed the official election results in the old state Capitol in Phoenix along with the state's Republican governor and attorney general, Doug Ducey and Mark Brnovich, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel. Ducey expressed confidence in the election process. "We do elections well here in Arizona. The system is strong and that’s why I bragged on it so much," he said. The process of canvassing the state’s election results is usually a banal one — a mere formality set in law to occur on the fourth Monday after a general election, well after the dust of the campaign season has settled.
But President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign and many within his party dispute his defeat, giving the proceedings particular significance as a rebuttal of his claims and affirmation of the state's the election process. Hobbs began the meeting by listing steps the state takes to ensure the security of the election, from auditing ballots by hand to testing equipment publicly and including all political parties in the tabulation process. Still, less than 2 miles from the Capitol, several Republican legislators held an event with Trump campaign lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani, who claimed lawmakers could and should throw out the results of the election. Lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign and its supporters disputing the processes of the election have not held up to scrutiny in Arizona courts, however. Still, a new challenge wended through the judicial system on Monday. Meanwhile, every board of supervisors in all 15 counties had certified tallies ahead of Monday, allowing the state to finalize its results.
The certification of the election results starts a clock that will run for five days, allowing anyone to contest the outcome of a race in court. And Kelly will be free to take his seat in the U.S. Senate after defeating U.S. Sen. Martha McSally. The race was a special election to fill the remaining two years on the six-year term of U.S. Sen. John McCain, who was re-elected in 2016 and died in 2018. Kelly is scheduled to be sworn in at noon Eastern time Wednesday, his office said.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/30/arizona-secretary-state-certify-election-results-monday/6444577002/