Rep. Finchem launches bid to reclaim 2020 electors

One of the Legislature’s most vocal advocates of overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election has introduced a resolution that seeks to do just that. 

Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, introduced House Concurrent Resolution 2033 on Monday. It would, if passed by both the House and Senate, notify Congress that “it is the justifiable position of the Arizona State Legislature that we set aside the results of the Maricopa, Pima and Yuma County elections as irredeemably compromised and reclaim the 2020 Presidential Electors due to the irredeemably flawed nature of these elections that prevent the declaration of a clear winner of said presidential electors.” 

The eight-page resolution lays out Finchem’s argument that the Legislature has the legal power to pick the state’s electors, then lists numerous alleged discrepancies, mostly in Maricopa County, as reasons to overturn the election results. Finchem, who is running for Secretary of State and whose bid has been endorsed by former President Trump, said in a statement that, while there is no process under current law for the state Legislature to “decertify” an election, the Legislature still has the power under the U.S. Constitution to “provide a remedy for outcome-determinative fraud and illegality in the conduct of an election.” 

Finchem said the evidence of illegal acts in Maricopa, Pima and Yuma counties creates a margin of error exceeding Biden’s margin of victory in the state. 

“If we are a nation governed by the ‘rule of law,’ as we so often espouse, then violations of the law must have consequences,” Finchem said. “In that regard, the 2020 General Election is irredeemably compromised, and it is impossible to name a clear winner of the contest.” 

House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, who last week effectively killed a bill that would have ended early voting and given the Legislature the power to overturn election results by assigning it to 12 different committees, indicated Monday that he does not support Finchem’s effort. Bowers’ opposition greatly reduces the chances it will go anywhere in the chamber; he had not assigned the measure to a committee as of Tuesday afternoon. 

“Mr. Finchem’s obviously unconstitutional and profoundly unwise proposal will receive all of the consideration it deserves,” Bowers said. 

“Mr. Finchem’s obviously unconstitutional and profoundly unwise proposal will receive all of the consideration it deserves.” 

House Speaker Rusty Bowers 

The resolution’s co-sponsors, many of whom have also called in question the results of the 2020 election or attributed President Biden’s win in Arizona to fraud, are Reps. Brenda Barton, R-Payson; Leo Biasiucci, R-Lake Havasu City; Neal Carter, R-San Tan Valley; Joseph Chaplik, R-Scottsdale; Lupe Diaz, R-Benson; John Fillmore, R-Apache Junction; Teresa Martinez, R-Casa Grande; Quang Nguyen, R-Prescott Valley; Jacqueline Parker, R-Mesa; and Sens. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City; Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff; and Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa. Martinez, Rogers, Townsend, Borrelli, Biasiucci and Carter took part in a hearing Finchem organized in December looking into allegations of voter fraud in Pima County.