The latest: Ariz. election official is resigning, citing threatening atmosphere
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By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

PHOENIX — An elections director who for years confronted death threats, professional attacks and election denialism in a rural Arizona county is resigning, The Washington Post has learned, joining the ranks of public officials leaving such posts amid a polarized political environment targeting democratic functions.

Lisa Marra, 59, who has been in charge of elections for five years in Cochise County, a ruby-red jurisdiction in the southeastern corner of the state, issued her intention to leave the post Tuesday through a letter to the county officials. She also serves as the president of Election Officials of Arizona.

A Cochise official said the county could not comment on the “employee matter.”

Behind the scenes after last November’s midterm elections, Marra played a lead role in trying to convince the GOP-led county board to follow state law and certify the election results as conspiracies over Republican losses took hold. The delay threatened to upend the state’s process for affirming the will of more than 2.5 million voters. Eventually, the board certified the results after a court order, becoming the last Arizona jurisdiction to do so.

In the letter, Marra’s attorney cited an “outrageous and physically and emotionally threatening” working atmosphere as well as “objectively difficult and unpleasant working conditions” that included public disparagement as well as legal action filed against her personally by two Republican supervisors.

Marra’s attorney wrote the board has also proposed to reorganize election duties that would involve taking away duties from her. Marra was recently told the board plans to hold a meeting in February “where local election deniers will present testimony as ‘experts’ on election security and the use of voting machines,” the letter said.