"I was inspired by my grandfather who was a World War II vet. He went to Europe to fight for democracy."
One of Maricopa County's four GOP supervisors explains why he voted together with a Democrat to certify a vote that led to POTUS-elect Joe Biden's victory in Arizona.
WATCH
A moving speech by @BillGatesAZ, one of many delivered with his fellow five-member board in Arizona last night.
To reiterate, every single member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors—comprised of four Republicans and one Democrat—voted last night to certify the election there.
One more thought:
Since this is a 1-minute clip to make it shareable, a little more context:
The Supervisor is talking about what inspired him to become a civil servant—to fight for democracy, an impulse that carried over into doing his job to certify a free and fair election.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
The Michigan Board of Canvassers meeting has begun.
Preliminary remarks by Jonathan Brater touts "unprecedented" and "inspiring" public participation during a pandemic.
"Few see or well understand the dedication that it takes to run an election," Mr. Brater observes, adding this means they usually hear from the critics—particularly the unfair one.
"Overall, we had an extremely well run and secure election," Brater notes.
Despite every baseless fraud allegation collapsing in Michigan's federal and state courts, @MIGOPChair and @GOP want to delay certification scheduled for Monday for 14 days based on claims they cannot prove before judges.
In a federal case in Michigan, the Trump campaign withdrew their claims and then lied about the reason in a court filing. lawandcrime.com/2020-election/…
"The results were accurate and complete, and it's time to move forward."
Vice-Chairman @jacksellers's remarks moving to certify Maricopa County, AZ election returns on Fri.
4-GOP
1-Dem
Unanimous approval.
WATCH how it happened.
Highlight reel in thread.
"It's time to dial back the rhetoric, conspiracies and false claims. In a free democracy, elections result in some people's candidate losing... I'm not going to violate the law or deviate from my own more compass."
— Chair @ClintLHickman (R), adding some pushed him to do that
"I have not played games with any other canvass we have voted we have voted on over the past eight years of sitting in this chair and as sitting on this board. I am not calculating or playing games today."
— Maricopa County Supervisor @Steve_Chucri (R), certifying the election
JUDGE: "In other words, Plaintiffs ask this Court to disenfranchise almost seven million voters. This Court has been unable to find any case in which a plaintiff has sought such a drastic remedy in the contest of an election."
That outcome would require "compelling legal arguments and factual proof."
Follow live coverage of failed GOP candidate Jim Marchant's longshot bid for an election re-do after getting pummeled by ~5 points and +10K votes at the ballot.
Marchant stumbles out the gate, @ZoeTillman observes below in her live-tweet.