Despite all the chaos and name calling resulting from the 2020 ballot recount in Arizona’s Maricopa County, one thing is certain: Had Attorney General Mark Brnovich not fought multiple efforts to change voting rules like other states allowed, the discord could have been a lot worse.
As in several states, liberal groups descended on Arizona to seek ballot access beyond what state laws allowed, often claiming changes were required due to the coronavirus pandemic. As those efforts moved forward, a review found Brnovich waited for state officials to push back.
But when they didn’t, the first-generation American moved in. “Here in Arizona during the 2020 cycle, there was a lot of stuff people weren’t paying attention to, but you had these left-wing, out-of-state special interest groups filing lawsuits, trying to basically change election procedures here. I thought it was incumbent on us in our office that we get it in, and we defend existing laws,” he said in an interview.
Notably, he took one case of ballot harvesting to the U.S. Supreme Court on his own. The case, Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, is pending.
Ag with constitution (2).jpeg“It’s named after me because no other election official, no other official here in Arizona, was willing to step in,” he said. “You had these Democratic Party and left-wing groups trying to portray [state laws] as somehow racist and undermining voters rights, and they weren’t. I mean, the evidence was contrary, and that’s why I pushed back hard.”
His goal all along was giving voters confidence that balloting was fair, accurate, and balanced despite charges from the Left.
“I think that’s so important because, quite frankly, in other states, that wasn’t the case,” he said.
Brnovich also challenged state and local officials. After the election, for example, he asked the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to increase the percentage of ballots counted by hand from 2% to 5%. The board declined and is now embroiled in a controversial audit.
Still, he said, the audit is unlikely to change the results of President Joe Biden’s victory by 10,457 votes. The reason, he said, is that he cleared away many of the other potential pitfalls.
But Brnovich, who often quotes the Federalist Papers and the Constitution, is still hunting down other claims of fraud and election interference.
“I want to restore people’s confidence in the process,” he said.
Border Tour 2.jpegAnd for him, “process” is a big area that includes states’ rights and even immigration, an area in which he has sued the Biden administration over the president’s plan essentially to stop the deportation of most criminal illegal immigrants.
“I really, honestly, I feel like I’m the right person at the right time to really push back. I feel like I’ve been preparing a lot of my career for this moment,” he said.”
Key moves by Brnovich:
- Six times the Arizona Attorney General’s Office stepped in to defend election laws after the secretary of state didn’t intervene, including taking Brnovich v. DNC to the Supreme Court.
- Brnovich also challenged the Democratic Maricopa County recorder when he tried to circumvent election laws in the lead-up to the 2020 election.
- After the 2020 election, Brnovich asked the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to increase the percentage of ballots subject to the hand count audit from 2% to 5%, which they rejected.
- He has backed the Arizona Senate’s constitutional authority to conduct an audit of elections, writing an amicus brief in December supporting the Senate’s position.
