Cochise County clerk pleads guilty in election interference case

On October 22, 2024By Yukito

PHOENIX (AZ family) — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced that a settlement has been reached in an election interference case involving a Cochise County supervisor.

On Monday, Peggy Judd pleaded guilty to a charge of failure or refusal to perform duties by an election official, a Class 3 misdemeanor. Mayes claims Judd admitted she failed to raise funds for the 2022 election as required by law.

“Any attempt to interfere with Arizona elections will not be tolerated. My office will continue to pursue justice and ensure that anyone who challenges our election system is held accountable,” Mayes said in an emailed press release. “Today’s settlement and verdict should serve as a strong reminder that I will not hesitate to use every tool at my disposal to uphold the rule of law and protect the integrity of Arizona’s elections.”

On Monday, Peggy Judd pleaded guilty to charges of failure or refusal to perform duties... — On Monday, Peggy Judd pleaded guilty to a charge of failure or refusal to perform duties by an election official, a Class 3 misdemeanor.(Cochise County)

Under intense pressure from voters in this mostly Republican county who believed Donald Trump’s claims of fraud in the 2020 election, Judd and fellow Cochise County Supervisor Terry “Tom” Crosby raised concerns about the reliability of vote-counting machines. In October 2022, Arizona’s Family reported that Judd and Crosby voted to manually recount all 12,000 Election Day ballots and approximately 32,000 early ballots.

A Pima County Superior Court judge later blocked the county’s plan, saying the board of supervisors had overstepped its authority. Despite this, Judd and Crosby still voted against certifying the election results, putting 47,000 votes in the county at risk of not being counted at all.

In late November 2022, Judd and Crosby were indicted by a grand jury on felony charges of conspiracy and interference with an election official. A few days later, the board voted to certify the election results shortly before the count was set.

They both pleaded not guilty to the charges in December last year.

As part of the plea agreement, Judd will be sentenced to a minimum of 90 days of unsupervised probation and pay a $500 fine. The full text of the plea agreement can be found here.

The Associated Press contributed to this report through previous reporting.

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