In the American electoral system, the party with the most votes in a state’s presidential election takes all of its local delegates to vote in the Electoral College. However, in December 2020, 11 Trump supporters met to falsely certify that the state’s 11 delegates were eligible to vote for Donald Trump in the Electoral College, despite Joe Biden being the actual winner of Arizona’s presidential election.
The complaint alleges that Kelli Ward, state legislators Anthony Kern and Jake Hoffman, Michael Ward, Tyler Bowyer, Greg Safsten, Jim Lamon, Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorhead, Nancy Cottle, Loraine Pellegrino and others signed a certificate stating that they were eligible to vote for Trump. The certificate was later shared via social media by the state Republican Party headquarters and sent to Congress and National Archives.
However, according to reports, one of those charged is not named in the complaint and referred to as “unindicted co-conspirator 1,” who was reportedly Ted Goodman – a spokesperson for Rudy Giuliani’s legal team. In addition to these charges against Republicans seven other individuals have also been indicted but their names have not been disclosed yet.
This legal proceeding highlights ongoing concerns about the integrity of the 2020 presidential election and its consequences on democracy.