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Michael Catlett, who handles election issues for Brnovich, said an extensive explanation by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office of the use of the felt-tipped pens now convinces him there is no basis to believe ballots were left uncounted based on a “bleed-through� of ink.

So as far as he is concerned, the matter is closed.

But Catlett expressed no regret for demanding answers to a list of questions about the process and requiring county officials to respond in less than 24 hours. He said his office had received “hundreds� of complaints from concerned voters.

“While some have attempted to characterize those complaints as the product of a ‘conspiracy theory,’ it was necessary and appropriate for the Attorney General’s Office to conduct some investigation, rather than simply brushing hundreds of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ voters off, and to obtain information from the elected officials actually tasked with tabulating votes,â€� Catlett wrote in a letter to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

And a spokesman for Brnovich, Ryan Anderson, said a review continues of the more than 1,000 complaints, to separate out those whose votes may have been affected versus those who wrote in saying they had heard about what has been dubbed #SharpieGate.

While Brnovich is walking away from the issue, that’s not the case for some other Republican interests, who are pushing ahead with litigation asking Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Margaret Mahoney to intercede.