Sasha Hupka
Arizona Republic
First, it was Cochise County.
Then, Mohave County.
On Wednesday, Republican Sens. Sonny Borrelli and Wendy Rogers made Pinal County their third stop on a tour to convince supervisors in GOP-majority counties across Arizona to agree to hand count ballots.
Throughout an hour-long presentation and discussion, they urged Pinal County supervisors to manually tabulate results in next year’s elections, which include a Republican presidential preference election in March, a primary for other races in August and the general election in November.
They echoed election conspiracies that have repeatedly been proven false and play into unfounded fears of illegitimate elections — even as they claimed to be “presenting facts.”
“This is why we have a border invasion,” Rogers said. “This is why we have a dying economy. This is why we have filth in our schools. This is why our children are being subject to trafficking. This is why metropolitan areas especially are in decline. All of this stems from elections.”
They framed the issue as an apolitical matter of national security, repeating many of the same talking points they used in Mohave County, while also criticizing Gov. Katie Hobbs and other Democrats for blocking many election-related bills proposed by conservatives during the recent legislative session.
“Our detractors like to throw everything out but the kitchen sink and hope something sticks,” Borrelli said.
