GOP lawmaker’s proposal to decertify Arizona election won’t change anything about 2020

Former President Donald Trump and his allies have cheered a resolution by a Republican Arizona state lawmaker to decertify the 2020 election won by Joe Biden — a proposal that has no legal merit and isn’t going anywhere.

"Arizona House bill would decertify three counties in Arizona," said a Feb. 8 Facebook post by David J. Harris, a conservative commentator. The post links to an article on his website that says that if the resolution passes, "it could effectively recall the Biden electors." 

He’s wrong. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The resolution he’s talking about was authored by State Rep. Mark Finchem. Trump, who has endorsed Finchem as a candidate for Arizona secretary of state, declared the resolution "big news in Arizona!"

But it’s just wishful thinking by people who see political gain in rehashing the falsehood that Biden’s victory was the result of voter fraud.

People should ignore claims from anyone about the prospect of undoing the 2020 results, says Chris Krebs, the former federal cybersecurity official who declared the 2020 presidential election "the most secure in American history" before being fired by Trump.

"There is no mechanism for such a thing under the law," Krebs tweeted in September. "Here’s the thing: you’re the mark. They want your money, they want your rage, they want you turning out, protesting, & threatening officials. You’re a pawn. Nothing more."

Finchem’s resolution recycles claims about voter fraud that have been debunked by fact-checkers and elections officials. And it revives allegations of fraud and probable cause of criminal wrongdoing that investigations have dismissed.

The resolution calls for setting aside the results in Pima, Maricopa and Yuma counties because Finchem said he believes the election there was "irredeemably flawed," which prevented "the declaration of a clear winner." Biden won Pima and Maricopa while Trump won Yuma.

Finchem acknowledged in a press release about his resolution that there is no process under current law to decertify the election. But he said that doesn’t mean the Legislature can’t "provide a remedy for outcome-determinative fraud and illegality in the conduct of the election."

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Donald Trump won Pennsylvania in the 2020 presidential election.

Rick Hasen, an election law professor at University of California, Irvine, called Finchem’s argument "nonsense."

"This argument is not legally sound," Hasen said. "The Arizona legislature had the right under Article 2 of the Constitution to set the manner for choosing presidential electors. It gave that right to Arizona’s voters, with no power to ‘decertify’ the results afterwards — whatever that means."

After counties canvassed the results weeks after Election Day, Arizona state officials certified the results on Nov. 30, 2020, showing that Joe Biden won Arizona by about 10,500 votes. The electors cast their ballots for Biden on Dec. 14, 2020, and Congress accepted the results Jan. 6, 2021.

The Legislature can’t disregard the results of the votes cast by electors, said Paul Bender, an Arizona State University law professor. "I would not take Finchem's assertions seriously," he said.

Arizona state House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Republican, called the bill "obviously unconstitutional and profoundly unwise" – a sign that it won’t go anywhere.

An article shared on Facebook says an Arizona House resolution proposing to "decertify" the 2020 results in three counties "could effectively recall the Biden electors."

The post refers to a resolution by Finchem, a state legislator who has called for decertifying the results of the 2020 presidential election in Pima, Maricopa and Yuma counties. 

The resolution won’t change anything about the 2020 election. Arizona certified the results in November 2020, the electors cast their ballots in December and those results were accepted by Congress in January 2021. 

The Constitution lays out the process for certifying the election, and that process is over.

We rate this statement Pants on Fire.

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