Oct 15, 2026 · 13 min · 15 segments
Cochise County supervisors are pressing for answers about election equipment oversight, but one supervisor at the center of the 2022 election controversy says he has no plans to withhold certification…
With the November 3rd election approaching, Cochise County supervisors are raising new questions about the rules governing voting equipment.
But they're also making one thing clear.
Asking those questions does not mean they're planning to hold up election results.
As Herald Review managing editor Matt Hickman reports, supervisor Tom Crosby told colleagues during a special meeting Tuesday that he has no intention of refusing to certify the upcoming election.
Four years ago, Crosby and then-supervisor Peggy Judd refused to canvass the 2022 general election results by the legally required deadline.
Both were later indicted on felony charges.
Judd eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, while Crosby is still awaiting trial.
This time, county leaders say they're focused on getting answers from state and federal officials, particularly about how voting equipment is approved and how the laboratories that test it are regulated.
At the center of the state-level dispute are 10 pages that disappeared from Arizona's elections procedures manual.
Those pages, included in the approved 2019 manual, explain the process for certifying voting equipment.
They outlined what manufacturers needed to submit, how equipment would be reviewed and tested, when software changes required new approval, and how certification could be withdrawn.
The section was still included in earlier drafts of the updated manual, but was removed before the September 2023 submission.
It also hasn't been restored in the 2025 version.
State law still requires voting equipment to be certified.
What supervisors want to know is where the detailed instructions now exist, who authorized their removal, and whether county election officials were properly consulted.
The board is preparing a letter to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes requesting those explanations.
Supervisor Kathleen Gomez said that election procedures shouldn't be a partisan issue.
Her position was that anyone responsible for conducting elections needs to understand the rules they're expected to follow.
But the supervisors aren't stopping at the state level.
They're also preparing correspondence for federal agencies questioning the oversight of laboratories that test voting systems.
Their concerns focus on two laboratories, Pro-V and V, and SLI compliance, including questions about accreditation records and whether federal requirements were consistently followed.
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission maintains that both laboratories remained properly accredited.
The commission has acknowledged an administrative error that left one laboratory without an updated certificate for a period between 2017 and 2019. but says its accreditation never actually lapsed.
County supervisors want documentation explaining the legal basis for that conclusion.
With the November 3rd election approaching, Cochise County supervisors are raising new questions about the rules governing voting equipment.
But they're also making one thing clear.
Asking those questions does not mean they're planning to hold up election results.
As Herald Review managing editor Matt Hickman reports, supervisor Tom Crosby told colleagues during a special meeting Tuesday that he has no intention of refusing to certify the upcoming election.
Four years ago, Crosby and then-supervisor Peggy Judd refused to canvass the 2022 general election results by the legally required deadline.
Both were later indicted on felony charges.
Judd eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, while Crosby is still awaiting trial.
This time, county leaders say they're focused on getting answers from state and federal officials, particularly about how voting equipment is approved and how the laboratories that test it are regulated.
At the center of the state-level dispute are 10 pages that disappeared from Arizona's elections procedures manual.
Those pages, included in the approved 2019 manual, explain the process for certifying voting equipment.
They outlined what manufacturers needed to submit, how equipment would be reviewed and tested, when software changes required new approval, and how certification could be withdrawn.
The section was still included in earlier drafts of the updated manual, but was removed before the September 2023 submission.
It also hasn't been restored in the 2025 version.
State law still requires voting equipment to be certified.
What supervisors want to know is where the detailed instructions now exist, who authorized their removal, and whether county election officials were properly consulted.
The board is preparing a letter to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes requesting those explanations.
Supervisor Kathleen Gomez said that election procedures shouldn't be a partisan issue.
Her position was that anyone responsible for conducting elections needs to understand the rules they're expected to follow.
But the supervisors aren't stopping at the state level.
They're also preparing correspondence for federal agencies questioning the oversight of laboratories that test voting systems.
Their concerns focus on two laboratories, Pro-V and V, and SLI compliance, including questions about accreditation records and whether federal requirements were consistently followed.
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission maintains that both laboratories remained properly accredited.
The commission has acknowledged an administrative error that left one laboratory without an updated certificate for a period between 2017 and 2019. but says its accreditation never actually lapsed.
County supervisors want documentation explaining the legal basis for that conclusion.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
