By Kaci DeMarest | KTAR
The president of a Valley economics and policy consulting group said ongoing legal squabbles from Arizona’s Republican Party could cost the state’s economy in the long run.
“This is this continuing problem of looking for conspiracies,” Jim Rounds, president of Rounds Consulting, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Gaydos and Chad Show. “We’re starting to stand out as a state that’s causing problems again.”
Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward filed a new lawsuit in an attempt to inspect both mail-in ballot signatures and duplicated ballots in metro Phoenix. In the lawsuit, Ward alleged that election officials did not give legal observers enough access to ballot processing.
Ward’s lawsuit marks the fifth election challenge filed in Maricopa County since Nov. 3. The previous four cases were dismissed, including one filed by the Arizona Republican Party that sought to determine whether voting machines were hacked.
Rounds said these antics are things that CEOs and entrepreneurs who are looking for places to move their business see and take note of. Ultimately, it could push businesses away that are considering Arizona as a place to relocate their companies.