Cindy McCain rips Arizona GOP over mail-in ballots lawsuit: ‘I am one of those mail in ballots’

Cindy McCain, widow of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain (R), knocked her state’s Republican Party on Thursday over GOP-led efforts to change the procedure by which the state counts mail-in ballots.

{mosads}In a tweet, the senator’s wife took aim at local GOP groups who this week filed a lawsuit to force the state to stop calling voters to verify that they had mailed in a ballot in the case of ballots where names provided by voters are not immediately clear.

“I am one of those mail in ballots. I was under the impression my vote was always counted,” McCain wrote Thursday, tagging the state’s local Republican Party account.

@AZGOP I am one of those mail in ballots. I was under the impression my vote was always counted.

— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) November 8, 2018

McCain’s comments follow efforts from several county-wide GOP groups to ask a judge to halt the counting of mail-in ballots, claiming that the process violates state law and that election-related calls can only be made before an election is held.

“A foundational principle of American democracy and our justice system is that all votes are treated equally,” Arizona GOP Chairman Jonathan Lines said Thursday, explaining the lawsuit. “It is not fair nor just that voters in one county are treated differently under the law from other voters in Arizona.”

The state’s Senate race, a razor-thin contest between Rep. Martha McSally (R) and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D), remains uncalled, as votes are still being counted Friday after Sinema took a slim lead Thursday.

State Democrats have accused the GOP of attempting to interfere in the vote count with the lawsuit and have vowed to fight GOP efforts to change the process.

“The Republican Party is doing everything it can to silence thousands of Arizonans who already cast their ballots,” Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Felecia Rotellini said. “That’s absolutely wrong, and the Arizona Democratic Party is fully prepared to fight to ensure that every last Arizonan has their vote counted.”