Hearings are ongoing today in Bisbee, Cochise county seat, concerning charges by Republican Martha McSally's campaign that votes were handled improperly.
Cochise County is in Arizona's second congressional district, and shares the district with sections of Pima County. Cochise County is the more conservative of the two . McSally has continued to lead in the Cochise ballot count, though her early lead in the entire district eroded late last week as early ballot became more of a factor. Provisional Ballots have not yet been factored into the count in either county. Conventional wisdom says the Provisional ballots will break for Barber, though no one knows how much.
Since Friday, Democrat Ron Barber's lead has increased in Pima and in the overall district and McSally's lead has decreased in Cochise county . Barber currently leads by 700 votes as of Tuesday PM)
more after the fold...
In question are 130 provisional ballots.
Though these ballots may not decide the race, if there are fewer than 500 votes separating McSally and Barber, a recount can or will take place, so the McSally team would naturally want to scrap any additional Barber votes wherever they can find them.
Daniel Scarpinato, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, pointed to concerns for fraud and ballot tampering as the motivation for the restraining order. the Barber Camp of course, wants the count to continue and released the following statement ,
"We respect the ballot counting process currently taking place and want to see it move forward. The request for a temporary restraining order filed today is an active attempt by Martha McSally’s attorneys to disenfranchise voters in Cochise County. Throwing away the votes of Southern Arizonans is wrong and unacceptable.”
In a previous diary , I reported that the ballot count was slow, but proceeding.
Earlier today it was reported that the GOP had sought an injunction but the injunction had been denied. An AP report stated that a supporter of McSally's had also filed suit. Here is the latest update, an article from the Sierra Vista Herald, filed this hour.
http://www.svherald.com/...
2:36 PM PT: Attorneys for McSally and Barber agreed to delay the seeking of a restraining order on the ballot counting. The dispute centers on whether ballots from 3 precincts had been properly sealed. A McSally supporter, William J.Ode has filed suit, alleging that if these ballots are counted his vote "will be diluted and negated by the disputed ballots to such an extent that his chosen candidate, Martha McSally, may not be declared the winner, and because the integrity of the election will be compromised."
The judge allowed for the agreement, which was reached during a court recess this afternoon. Basically the vote will be tallied and included in the final count , however the 130 ballots will then be sequestered. Parties, (McSally), will decide whether to contest the 130 ballots after the entire CD-2 count is concluded. more details in the updated Sierra Vista Herald reporting linked to in this diary
4:01 PM PT: Evidently one of the precincts in particular, Castro, is in Douglas, is a strong Latino voting precinct, and went heavily for Barber. the other two, Hopi and Ramsay are in Sierra Vista, and went much the same way as the county as a whole, though a reminder, this involves Provisional ballots and we have NOT seen the provisional count from ANY precincts yet in cochise county. So yes, there is politicking a plenty this afternoon.
Following is a Statement from Democratic Party Executive Director Luis Heredia :
The actions of Martha McSally and her campaign to disqualify provisional ballots in a majority Latino precinct and in other parts of Congressional District 2 are both deplorable and desperate. The attempts to use temporary restraining orders in hopes of swaying this election's outcome threatens voters' rights and should be taken seriously. If this is the tone that McSally wants to set, she clearly does not know the district nor does she possess the qualities of leadership that are needed. This is a desperate campaign that seems to think the only way it can win is to cherry-pick votes.