Jan Brewer: Computer glitch cost my spot as pro-Donald Trump Arizona delegate

PHOENIX — Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said Monday that a computer glitch cheated her out of possibly serving as a pro-Donald Trump delegate at the Republican National Convention.

“I believe very strongly that I was cheated,” she told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Mac & Gaydos on Monday. “I believe Donald Trump was cheated. I believe the people of Arizona were cheated.”

Brewer claimed the glitch left her name off of the list of potential pro-Trump delegates during the state’s Republican convention on Saturday. Voters were able to select the delegates they want to send to the party’s national convention, set for July in Cleveland.

“There was a couple of us – more than a couple of us, I guess – that were not on that slate,” she said, adding that other names appeared incorrectly on the slate.

The results of Saturday’s vote — which heavily favored Trump rival Ted Cruz — were met with immediate backlash from Brewer and other supporters of the New York billionaire.

“The Trump campaign is very unhappy with the results,” state Treasurer Jeff DeWit told reporters at the time. “We don’t feel that this was a fair process. The Trump button got checked more than any other, so why do we have so few delegates?”

A fuming @JeffDeWitAZ has announced that Trump campaign wants an Arizona re-vote, will file a grievance and lawsuit.

— Dan Nowicki (@dannowicki) May 1, 2016

Brewer said she and several other party members informed organizers of the computer glitch, but they did nothing to correct the issue.

“If there are errors and you’re notified and it’s acknowledged, then you stop the election, you go back, correct the error and you start the voting from the beginning,” she said.

The former governor said, while she hopes there were no underhanded acts preventing her name from being on the slate, things were hectic from the beginning.

“I believe it was getting late,” she said. “It was way behind schedule because the computers crashed – they had errors and glitches throughout the process.”

She also criticized the delegate system as a whole, saying it’s too “complicated” for people to track.

“It’s so complicated,” she said. “It’s so difficult. People don’t understand that their vote at that particular time isn’t for a particular nominee.”

Brewer said she is saddened by the fact she will not vote on behalf of Arizona at a national party convention for the first time in more than three decades.

“After 35 years of representing and participating, I am without anything,” she said.

The Cruz slate won virtually all of the 28 at-large national delegates and roughly split the 27 delegates selected by congressional district.

The delegates are obligated to vote for the winner of the Arizona primary — in this case, Trump — in the first round of voting at the national convention. Should he not win the majority, the convention becomes contested and delegates can vote for whichever candidate they prefer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.