Ron Gould Was A Member Of The Mohave County Board Of Supervisors In 2024. [Mohave County, District 5, accessed 1/23/24]
Ron Gould Was Elected To The Mohave County Board Of Supervisors As A Republican In 2020. [Mohave County, 2020 Election Results, 11/12/20]
Ron Gould Spoke At A Pro-Trump Rally Held To Support His Challenge To 2020 Election Results. “Seizing on the hopeful news as President Donald Trump continues to launch legal battles to challenge results of the election earlier this month, Bullhead City-area Republicans came together Thursday afternoon in Rotary Park to hold a pro-Trump rally. About 75 people showed up in the middle of the day to hear speakers that included Mohave County Sups. Hildy Angius and Ron Gould and Kingman doctor Laurence Schiff, president of the Conservative Republican Club of Kingman. The gist of what they all had to say was in essence: Don't give up hope. According to Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Trump won by a landslide, and stated the campaign legal team was going to prove it. Giuliani went state by state, listing outcomes that Trump allies have said will be reversed in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia, among other states.” [Mohave Valley Daily News, 11/19/20]
Ron Gould Said Of Pushing To Delay Certification: “If We Go Ahead And Canvass The Election, Then We're Saying We're Done, And That Puts A Different Legal Level On It.” “The move to delay the vote was introduced by Supervisor Ron Gould, a former state senator who said he fear that canvassing the vote would foreclose Republicans' options to challenge the statewide election results. ‘If we go ahead and canvass the election, then we're saying we're done, and that puts a different legal level on it,’ Gould said at Monday's meeting.” [Mohave Valley Daily News, 11/16/20]
Ron Gould Moved In 2020 To Delay Certification Of The 2020 Election “With The Contentious Election And With Arizona Still Being In Play.” “Supervisor Gould stated um and this is not a reflection on Allen or Allen’s staff or any of the poll workers, um but with the contentious election and with Arizona still being in play. I would recommend that the Board of Supervisors takes no action at this time. We have by statute 20 days from the election to take action. Um and I would have to go ahead and close out our election when we have other things going on in our stated and in our nation.” [Mohave County Board of Supervisors, Minutes, 11/16/20]
Ron Gould Said Mohave County Held Off On Certifying Its 2022 Election To Protest Maricopa County Because When Maricopa Makes Mistakes “It Disenfranchises Voters In The Other Counties.” “Furthermore, when asked if he would have voted no, he said the issue was not his own county’s canvass but the one in Maricopa. ‘We’re [the MCBOS] only canvassing Mohave County’s Election, and we didn’t have problems. So, there was nothing to really protest,’ Gould said. ‘We held it off as a political statement to Maricopa County because we’re unhappy with how they handled their election… When Maricopa County makes mistakes, it disenfranchises voters in the other counties. That’s why we’re upset.’” [Arizona Sun Times, 11/30/22]
Ron Gould Said His Vote To Delay Certification Of The 2022 Elections Was “Purely A Political Statement.” “‘It is purely a political statement,’ Supervisors Chairman Ron Gould answered him, ‘but it is the only way we can make this statement.’” [Arizona Mirror, 11/23/22]
Ron Gould Said He Ultimately Voted To Canvass The General Election Because He Would Be Criminally Charged, What He Called A “Policy Of ‘Vote Yes To Canvass Or Go To Jail.’” “The press release reads as follows: ‘On Monday, Nov. 28, 2022, in a 4-0 vote the Mohave County Board of Supervisors canvassed Mohave County’s election results. Please note that I am referring to Mohave County’s election results. Each of Arizona’s 15 counties canvass the results from their own county. The Mohave County Board of Supervisors did not canvass the results for Maricopa County or any other county. Nor did we canvass the state results. The governor, attorney general and the secretary of state have that job. Mohave County’s election process was smoothly run by Election Director Allen Tempert. [...] The ramifications of not canvassing Mohave County’s election are: The votes cast by Mohave County voters would not be added to the statewide totals. This would cause the Republican Party to lose the statewide positions we have won, the still contested Attorney General, the Superintendent of Public Instruction along with the two Corporation Commissioners. The election of county positions would be declared null and void. The six elected Mohave County Superior Court Judges would be replaced with Judges appointed by the apparent Governor, Katie Hobbs. The other county positions would be filled by the Governor or the Board of Supervisors. Another fact to keep in mind: The candidates cannot begin the lawsuits to challenge the election results until the completion of the State Canvass. The canvass is not the end of the process, it is a step along the way. A legal problem has surfaced as we have moved through the canvass process. We received a letter from the Secretary of State’s office informing the Supervisors that we would be criminally charged with a class 6 felony if we didn’t vote to canvass. That threat was confirmed by the board’s attorney, that a ‘NO’ vote could bring a criminal charge. Some have attempted to label me a coward for not voting ‘NO’, but as you can see there was really nothing to gain by my constituents from me voting ‘NO’. There are other legal paths to follow regarding this issue. The policy of ‘vote yes to canvass or go to jail’ is clearly not what our founders had in mind when they formed our Republic.” [Kingman Miner, 12/1/22]
During A November 2022 Meeting, Ron Gould Proposed Obtaining An Outside Inspection Of Cast Ballots, Cast Vote Records And The System File Log. “During the Nov. 28 special meeting, Gould proposed obtaining an outside inspection of cast ballots, cast vote record and the system file log. A court order would have been needed to get that information.” [Kingman Miner, 12/1/22]
In 2024, Ron Gould Filed A Lawsuit Against Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes That Accused Her Of Subjecting Him To “Threats And Intimidation” For Pushing For A Hand Count. “Mohave County Supervisor Ron Gould filed his own lawsuit last month, accusing Mayes of subjecting him to ‘threats and intimidation’ for pushing for a hand count of election returns. He contends nothing in state law precludes a county from deciding to tally ballots by hand. More the point, he claims that a majority of the five-member board would vote for such a procedure were it not for Mayes, in a November letter to the supervisors warning them that going down that path ‘could result in various felonies and misdemeanor penalties. We hope you will choose not to violate the law and thus that it will not be necessary to consider whether criminal prosecution is warranted for conducting an illegal hand count,’ the attorney general wrote. No date has been set to hear his complaint. Gould noted, though, it hasn't been just Mayes who has threatened litigation over the 2022 election. He said there were similar threats from Kori Lorick, the state elections director under Hobbs when she was secretary of state, to bring charges against any county that did not certify the results on time.” [Capitol Media Services, 2/5/24]
Ron Gould Sought A Ruling From A Maricopa County Judge That Voting Machine Tabulation Was Optional, That Supervisors Could Make That Choice, And That He Should Not Be Subject To Intimidation By The Attorney General. “A Mohave County supervisor wants a judge to bar Attorney General Kris Mayes from subjecting him to ‘threats and intimidation’ for pushing for a hand count of elections. In a new court filing, Ron Gould contends nothing in state law precludes a county from deciding to tally ballots by hand. More to the point, he claims that a majority of the five-member board would vote for such a procedure were it not for Mayes, in a November letter to the supervisors warning them that going down that path ‘could result in various felonies and misdemeanor penalties.’ [...] But Dennis Wilenchik, who is representing Gould, said Mayes is misreading the law. And he said the case that the attorney general is relying on to back up her claims concluded only that counties cannot do full hand-count audits, meaning a separate check of the accuracy of all the ballots to see of the results match what is reported by the vote-tallying equipment. What was not part of the that ruling, said Wilenchik, is what at least some Mohave supervisors want to do: scrap the voting equipment entirely in favor of hand counting the ballots. So Gould wants a ruling from a Maricopa County superior court judge that machine tabulation is optional, that the supervisors can make that choice - and that he ‘should not be subjected to threats and intimidation by the attorney general for voting to have hand counting be the primary initial method of vote tabulation.’” [Capitol Media Services, 1/16/24]
Ron Gould Claimed The Arizona Attorney General’s Letter Caused Travis Lingenfelter To Vote Against The Hand Count, A Position He Had Held Previously Before Putting The Issue Back On The Agenda. “The fight in Mohave County dates back to last summer when the board voted to consider a hand count for the 2024 races. That was scrapped by a 3-2 vote against the plan in August amid various practical concerns. But three months later board Chair Travis Lingenfelter, who had been one of the foes, put the issue back on the agenda. That gave Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, a chance to argue to the board a hand count would be legal. It was also at that same meeting, however, that Mayes' letter was read to the board. Gould contends that, had it not been for Mayes' letter, Lingenfelter would have voted for the hand count, providing the necessary third vote given his earlier vote against it. Lingenfelter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But Gould said it's only logical. ‘It seems rather odd that he would bring it back up if he had not changed his mind,’ he said.” [Capitol Media Services, 1/16/24]
Ron Gould Wanted A Judge To Rule In Favor Of A Hand Count Because His “Constituents Are Losing Faith In The Election Process.” “Gould said, however, there's a good reason for him to try to get a judge to rule that a hand count is legal. ‘My concern is that my constituents are losing faith in the election process,’ he said. And Gould brushed aside a question of whether that is happening simply because candidates like Donald Trump and Kari Lake are sowing those seeds simply because they lost their elections. ‘It doesn't matter why they are losing faith in the election,’ he said. ‘My concern is that they'll quit voting if they lose faith.’ And Gould said he shares some of their concerns.” [Capitol Media Services, 1/16/24]
When Asked If His Constituents Were Losing Faith In Elections Because Of Lies From Losing Candidates, Ron Gould Said It Didn’t Matter Why They Were Losing Faith In Elections. “Gould said, however, there's a good reason for him to try to get a judge to rule that a hand count is legal. ‘My concern is that my constituents are losing faith in the election process,’ he said. And Gould brushed aside a question of whether that is happening simply because candidates like Donald Trump and Kari Lake are sowing those seeds simply because they lost their elections. ‘It doesn't matter why they are losing faith in the election,’ he said. ‘My concern is that they'll quit voting if they lose faith.’ And Gould said he shares some of their concerns.” [Capitol Media Services, 1/16/24]
Ron Gould: “I Cannot Tell Whether We Had A Clean Election Or Not Because They Won't Give Me Information That I Need To Check.” “He pointed out that state law requires each county board of supervisors to certify the results of each election. ‘I cannot tell whether we had a clean election or not because they won't give me information that I need to check,’ Gould said, specifically citing his demand for the ‘cast vote record.’ In essence, that is a digital representation of each voter's choices, with any identification of the voter stripped away. While mainly used as an auditing tool, it can provide some information to political junkies, like whether a person who voted for Candidate X in one race voted in all the other races, the kind of information that could not be ascertained by simply reviewing the official results. ‘They won't give me the information to do my job,’ said Gould.” [Capitol Media Services, 1/16/24]