US election: Arizona certifies Biden as winner, Wisconsin to follow

Arizona has officially certified Joe Biden as the winner of the election, with Wisconsin set to follow suit later on Monday.

Arizona has officially certified Joe Biden as the winner of the election, with Wisconsin set to follow suit later today, marking another setback for Donald Trump in his battle to overturn the results.

Arizona and Wisconsin are the last of the contested battleground states to officially certify Mr Biden as the winner, after Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada.

Mr Biden won Arizona by 10,500 votes out of nearly 3.4 million ballots, a margin of just under 0.3 per cent, making the former Vice President the first Democrat to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1996.

Arizona Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs formally certified the vote on Monday, with Republican Governor Doug Ducey, Republican Attorney-General Mark Brnovich and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel in attendance.

“We do elections well here in Arizona,” Mr Ducey said. “The system is strong.”

The 2020 General Election results are certified. To see the results and view the video of the official canvass, please visit https://t.co/4VK0XAnv7r #trustedinfo2020 pic.twitter.com/3VtXG2XQ6M

— Secretary Katie Hobbs (@SecretaryHobbs) November 30, 2020

Today, we signed the canvass for the 2020 election in Arizona. I’m grateful to the voters, the county election offices, the county recorders’ offices, & the poll workers across the state for their dedication to the success of our election system. @SecretaryHobbs @GeneralBrnovich pic.twitter.com/vdjhuQosZd

— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) November 30, 2020

The pointed comments came even as Mr Trump’s legal team were on the other side of town holding a “fact-finding” hearing in front of nine Republican state politicians to present evidence of election fraud.

Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis held a similar hearing in Pennsylvania last week, as part of a campaign attempting to convince Republican-controlled state legislatures to override the popular vote and appoint their own pro-Trump electors.

.@OANN WOW, total election corruption in Arizona. Hearing on now! Why isn’t @FoxNews covering the Arizona hearings?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2020

“The vote, as it presently exists, is false, it’s fraudulent. If they certify it, they are certifying a false statement to the United States of America.” @RudyGiuliani pic.twitter.com/lZBrAXHBNp

— Arizona Republican Party (@AZGOP) November 30, 2020

The Trump campaign is also attempting to challenge results in court, although so far with little success. Requested recounts in Georgia and Wisconsin have also failed to change the outcome in those states.

Arizona’s margin is above the 0.1 per cent required under state law to trigger an automatic recount, but state GOP leader Kelli Ward has indicated the party will file a lawsuit challenging the results after they are certified.

In his first interview since November 3, Mr Trump phoned into Maria Bartiromo’s Sunday morning Fox News show, where he again refused to accept the loss – claiming it was “a rigged election”.

But he also acknowledged that it was “hard” to get a case in front of the Supreme Court and slammed some of the lower court judges who had knocked back his cases so far. “We’re not allowed to put in our proof – they say you don’t have standing,” Mr Trump said.

“I would like to file one nice big beautiful lawsuit, talking about this and many other things, with tremendous proof. We have affidavits, we have hundreds and hundreds of affidavits. You mean as President of the United States, I don’t have standing? What kind of a court system is this?”

[e-mail]