Two members of the Mohave County, Ariz., Board of Supervisors on Monday voted to certify the results of the Nov. 8 midterm elections “under duress,” claiming he was forced to do so under threat of jail time.
“I vote ‘aye’ under duress. I found out today that I have no choice but to vote ‘Aye’ or I will be arrested and charged with a felony,” Gould said while casting his vote. “I don’t think that that is what the founders had in mind when they used the democratic process to elect our leaders.”
“I find that very disheartening,” he concluded. Video footage of the vote showed Gould raise his objections. Just the News has sought comment from Gould.
Gould was not alone in certifying the election results “under duress.” Fellow board supervisor Hildy Angius also claimed she would face legal action for not certifying the result and further expressed a desire to avoid disenfranchising voters. She did, however, express optimism about her own county’s results, but cited issues in Maricopa County among her misgivings.
“Delaying this vote again will only prolong the agony without actually changing anything,” she said, according to local outlet Havasu News. “What we certify here today is only Mohave County’s vote. I’m confident about this county under (Mohave County Elections Director) Allen Tempert and (County Recorder Kristi Blair). To not certify this election at all, I think, was never our intent. It would certainly disenfranchise the voters of Mohave County and hurt our candidates who worked so hard to get elected.”
“I suggest that in the coming months and years we work with our state legislature to make the changes we need, both for our county and for our state, and to make our voices heard,” she continued. “Arizona — and that is Maricopa County — is the laughingstock of the country and the world. And they don’t even seem to care, which is even more frightening. I will vote to certify this canvass under duress for the chaos Maricopa County has forced into our election process.”
The outlet observed that should the county fail to certify the election before the Monday deadline without any ballots outstanding, it would invalidate the whole county’s elections, the board’s legal counsel asserted. Such a course of action may also constitute malfeasance of office by county officials, a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Just the News has reached out to Angius seeking comment.
