Cochise County Recorder David Stevens said he has plans to count four races on about 40,000 ballots using more than 250 volunteers he's recruited from three political parties.
The majority on the Pinal County board of supervisors said they saw no reason to doubt the current hand-count audits that verify machine tabulation results or expand them to include more precincts as one supervisor proposed.
The court ruled members of Clean Elections USA, its leader, and anyone working with them are also barred from filming or following anyone within 75 feet (23 meters) of a ballot drop box or the entrance to a building that houses one.
Incumbent President Jonathan Nez and challenger Buu Nygren emerged as the top two vote-getters among 15 candidates in the tribe’s primary election in August.
The efforts to hand-count ballots are driven by unfounded concerns among some Republicans that problems with vote-counting machines or voter fraud led to former President Donald Trump's 2020 defeat.
The judge concluded that “while this case certainly presents serious questions, the Court cannot craft an injunction without violating the First Amendment.”
Ward has said her First Amendment rights would be chilled if investigators were able to learn whom she spoke with while trying to challenge former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat.
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