Arizona’s Electors Voted in An Undisclosed Location Due to Threats of Violence

All 11 of Arizona’s Electoral College votes were cast from an undisclosed location due to threats of violence against the electors, according to Arizona’s secretary of state.

The move underscores the levels of intimidation that have plagued the election process this year, as the state joins other states like Michigan in taking extreme measures to protect the safety of the electoral process. 

"We have seen increasingly escalating rhetoric and threats throughout the last week and decided to move this for the safety of everyone involved," Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said Monday during an interview with CNN.

Arizona was one of the key states that President-elect Joe Biden won in the election last month, defeating President Donald Trump. Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes, according to the Washington Post. 

But since Biden’s win, there’s been a concerted GOP effort to delegitimize his victory with baseless claims that the election was stolen through voter fraud and other nefarious means. In the weeks that followed the election, President Trump filed numerous lawsuits trying to undermine Biden’s victory, nearly all of which have failed. Last week, more than 100 House Republicans went so far as to file a brief with the Supreme Court supporting Texas’ flawed legal efforts to hand the presidency to Trump.  

Hobbs addressed claims of voter fraud during Arizona’s Electoral College meeting Monday morning, which was live-streamed on Facebook.

“We had an extremely well-run election and saw historically high voter participation,” Hobbs said. "While there are those who are upset their candidate didn't win, it is patently un-American and unacceptable that today's event should be anything less than an honored tradition, held with pride and celebration." 

Regardless of the threats, all 11 of Arizona’s electors were able to cast their ballots, which will be received by Congress on Jan. 6, according to the Arizona Republic. 

Arizona isn’t the only state that decided to have Electoral College members cast ballots in secret to protect the safety of the proceedings.  

In Michigan, where Biden beat Trump by more than 150,000 votes, the state’s Legislature closed all of its government buildings in Lansing that are normally open to the public after receiving “credible threats of violence” as electors gathered to cast their votes for Biden.  

The continued threats of violence against members of the Electoral College, and the electoral process as a whole, pushed Michigan’s soon-to-retire Republican Congressman Rep. Paul Mitchell to announce he’d be leaving the GOP Monday afternoon.

In an interview with CNN, Mitchell said that GOP involvement in conspiracy theories about the election, and attempts to overthrow the results, could create "long-term harm to our democracy."