On Thursday, an Arizona court ordered officials in Cochise County to certify their local midterm elections after they missed Monday’s statewide legal deadline.

The refusal by two of the three members of the Cochise board of supervisors to certify was a response to problems on Election Day with printers in Maricopa County, problems that — despite the Maricopa officials having confirmed that the issues did not disenfranchise any voters — have ballooned into the now-familiar cries of foul play and conspiracy-tinged protest.

The Cochise officials’ refusal, which prompted a lawsuit from Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, is a reminder of the toxic staying power of election denial, even after the defeat last month of several high-profile candidates who were beholden to partisan lies about election fraud.

• This week, in a sharply worded opinion, a judge ordered sanctions against the attorneys of Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake — who lost to Hobbs and still hasn’t conceded — and secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem, who had filed a lawsuit in April to block Maricopa and Pima counties from using electronic voting machines. The case had been dismissed in August.
• A county in northeastern Pennsylvania, finally certified its election this week after also missing its deadline.
• Also in Pennsylvania, supporters of defeated gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano are inundating state courts with recount petitions.

And as Maricopa County continues to be a hotbed of election conspiracy theories, American Oversight has obtained text messages from last year’s discredited “audit” of the county’s 2020 vote. They include numerous exchanges between Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan and Trump-allied election deniers.

• The records provide more insight into how those in charge of the “audit” anticipated that similar efforts would follow in other states. They also contain messages pointing to tensions between Cyber Ninjas and the America Project, a funder led by Trump ally Patrick Byrne.
• In another text, Phil Waldron, who was active in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, suggested that Trump might donate $1 million to the operation, and asked Logan if he had received a payment from Corey Lewandowski. Logan said he hadn’t.

On the Records

Gov. Abbott’s Anti-Trans Directive
On Tuesday, we filed an amicus brief in Lambda Legal and the ACLU’s lawsuit over the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services’ implementation of Gov. Greg Abbott’s February directive calling for the provision of gender-affirming care for trans youth to be investigated as child abuse.

• Abbott’s office and DFPS have argued that the implementation of the directive does not constitute an official “rule” under state law. 
• But records we obtained reveal that the agency adopted new policies and procedures in response to the directive, with staff and other entities interpreting the changes as a new rule.
• Several DFPS employees expressed confusion and distress over the policy change, and the agency also opened new investigations in response to Abbott’s directive. 

Other Stories We’re Following

Jan. 6 Investigations

• Final January 6 report expected to focus on issues beyond Trump efforts (CNN)
• McCarthy demands January 6 committee preserve all records and vows to hold hearings next year (CNN)
• Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy (Washington Post)
• Top Trump advisor Stephen Miller testifies to January 6 federal grand jury (CNN)
• Anthony Ornato, key Jan. 6 witness, speaks with House panel (New York Times)
• Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos meets with House January 6 committee (CNN)
• Jan. 6 committee conducts likely final interview, chairman says (CBS News)

Election Denial

• Experts: Assistant Arizona attorney general who blasted election officials should recuse self from investigation (Arizona Republic)
• Majority of Arizonans trust elections, despite persistence of election denialism (Arizona Mirror) 
• The out-of-state conspiracy theorists pushing for a ‘revote’ in Arizona (Arizona Mirror)
• Former deputy to Tina Peters pleads guilty, agrees to testify for prosecution (Colorado Newsline) 
• Michigan poll worker admitted to using USB drive to get voter data (WOOD TV) 
• Inside the billionaire-backed ‘hub for election denial’ (The Daily Beast)

Voting Rights

• Dispute over North Carolina congressional districts tees up major elections case at Supreme Court (NBC News)
• Rejecting improperly dated ballots disproportionately impacts communities of color in Pennsylvania, data shows (Votebeat)

The Coronavirus

• Twitter ends its ban on Covid misinformation (Washington Post)
• How Covid myths spread on far-right social media platforms (New York Times)
• More than 90% of Covid deaths occurring among elderly adults: CDC (ABC News) 
• How rampant abuse by fintech fueled Covid relief fraud (Washington Post) 

Trump Accountability

• House committee receives Donald Trump’s federal tax returns from IRS (CNN)
• Mark Meadows ordered to testify in Trump investigation (Politico)
• Turning point for Garland as Justice Dept. grapples with Trump inquiries (New York Times)
• Closing arguments begin in the Trump Organization’s tax fraud trial (NBC News)

Immigration

• Identities of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in U.S. posted in error (New York Times)
• Migrants flown from Texas to Massachusetts sue “Perla,” who recruited them for flights (Texas Tribune)
• A growing number of Texas rural counties are declaring local immigration “disasters” (Texas Tribune)

In the States

• DeSantis-backed school boards begin ousting Florida educators (Politico)
• ‘I was never ready for this’: How states limit teen access to abortion (ProPublica)
• New York City to involuntarily remove mentally ill people from streets (New York Times)
• San Francisco considers allowing law enforcement robots to use lethal force (NPR)
• Indiana attorney general asks medical board to discipline abortion doctor (New York Times)
• The military pledged to remove unexploded bombs from this island. Native Hawaiians are still waiting (ProPublica)
• Proposed Ohio ballot issue would require 60 percent majority for all constitutional amendments (Statehouse News Bureau)