Officials in rural Arizona and Pennsylvania counties voted Monday to delay the certification of November's midterm elections, blowing past the legal deadline while citing concerns about the integrity of the voting system.

Republicans on the election boards of Cochise County in Arizona and Luzerne County in Pennsylvania voted against the certification of the midterm election results, leading to lawsuits in both states.

Election conspiracies had circulated through Arizona months before the November midterms. Both the gubernatorial and secretary of state candidates in Arizona are Republicans who are backed by former President Donald Trump and have refused to concede their races. They continue to sew doubts about election systems.

Monday morning saw the Republican majority of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors delay election certification until Friday, ignoring the Monday deadline. The deadline has been missed, and the risk of mistakes in the counting of almost 47,000 county residents increases exponentially.

A lawsuit has been filed by Arizona's next governor, Katie Hobbs, who currently serves as Arizona's Secretary of State. The lawsuit claims that the delay in certification would undermine voters and "and sow further confusion and doubt about the integrity of Arizona's election system."

In Pennsylvania's Luzerne County, members of the election board completely split when voting to certify the midterm results. Two Republicans on the board voted against certification, two Democrats voted for certification and one Democrat abstained altogether.

Pennsylvania also faced a Monday deadline for election certification, but members of both parties have concerns that leave them hesitant to move on from 2022.

"There have been enough irregularities and enough discrepancies and enough disenfranchisement of disenfranchised voters in this county that I don't understand how we could possibly proceed without seriously considering a re-vote," said Luzerne County Board of Elections Vice Chair James Magna, a Republican.

Daniel Schramm, a Democrat and Board of Elections member, said "My feeling is I needed a little more information. So, I really didn't want to say, 'Oh, yeah, we're done with it now.' I want more information, so I can make a short decision on that it's right to certify it or to not certify it."

It remains unclear how either county will proceed. Lawsuits in Arizona will need to be litigated, and the state is likely to get involved in Pennsylvania's certification.

The issues are not expected to have any effect on the results of the midterm elections, but will likely delay the full certification of election winners for several weeks, adding stress to the increasingly tense voting environment.

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