Gov. Katie Hobbs’ Election Task Force (ETF) admitted that the 2022 election under her administration as secretary of state disenfranchised certain voters.
In the ETF’s final report, issued last week, the group recommended 16 improvements, two of which concerned hotly contested issues on eligible voters’ registration status: provisional ballot forms and cross-county voter registration. The 14 other issues spanned election administration, voter registration, early voting, election day and after procedures, and election equipment and security.
These provisional ballot and cross-county voter registration standards and procedures caused some voters to be disenfranchised last year.
Concerning provisional ballot forms, the ETF noted that no law exists to direct counties to have provisional ballots double as voter registration forms for eligible voters who weren’t registered prior to casting their vote. However, it is standard practice adopted by many counties, as noted by the ETF. The ETF also said that inconsistencies in provisional ballot forms across counties resulted in disparate treatment of voters.
“[T]here is no statutory requirement for counties to adopt this practice, which can result in inconsistent treatment of similarly-situated voters in different counties, and a potential decrease in the practice with turnover in County Recorder and elections offices,” said the ETF.
Maricopa County, which houses the state’s largest voting population, doesn’t have its provisional ballots double as voter registration forms. That meant that unregistered, eligible voters who voted in the primary through a provisional ballot remained unregistered, and therefore cast provisional ballots in the general election that were ultimately rejected. The county offered the following explanation to AZ Free News:
“Maricopa County does not use provisional ballots as registration forms. We do have voter registration forms available at vote centers. An individual must be registered to vote at least 29 before an election to be eligible to vote in that election. So, if someone registers to vote via a registration form at a vote center and then votes a provisional ballot, that provisional ballot will not be valid as they still are not within that 29-day time frame.”
Yet Pima County, which handles the state’s second-largest voting population, does use provisional ballot forms as voter registration.
Concerning cross-county voter registration, the ETF recommended changing state law to allow voters who moved counties to change their address up to and on Election Day, which voters may already do if they change addresses within the same county. Current law requires voters who move to another county to update their address at least 29 days prior to Election Day. The ETF noted that some voters were unaware of address changes to their voter registration
“Some voters are not aware of having made changes to their voter registration through the MVD, or may forget having made a separate request,” stated the ETF.
As alluded to by the ETF, hundreds of voters came forward after the 2022 election to allege that very disenfranchisement happened to them. In his arguments for a new trial in May, failed attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh’s legal team introduced sworn affidavits of hundreds of voters claiming disenfranchisement due to bureaucratic failures.
One allegedly disenfranchised Maricopa County voter given as an example, Marlena, attempted to vote on Election Day but was denied. Marlena had reportedly experienced issues with the county’s registration system for months: earlier that year, she discovered that her registration had changed without her knowledge and consent. Evidence indicated that Marlena attempted to correct her voter registration before the deadline and subsequently received confirmation from Maricopa County confirming her registration. Yet, she was denied her vote on Election Day.
During a Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting in September, county officials noted that individuals have mistakenly checked the wrong box and unknowingly changed their voter registration, when re-registering a vehicle in another county.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Two Arizona legislators are proposing changes to the state’s hospital.
Last week, Senators Catherine Miranda and T.J. Shope wrote an opinion piece for the Arizona Republic with their legislative recommendations to improve the Arizona State Hospital over the next session.
The bipartisan duo revealed that their thoughts stem from concerns “about shortcomings in Arizona’s behavioral health system, especially the system of care for folks with a serious mental illness.” There were three areas that the lawmakers identified for change, which were “better oversight and governance of the Arizona State Hospital, improved community reintegration resources, and more secure residential treatment options.”
In their article, Miranda and Shope telegraphed their legislative proposals for all three areas. For ‘oversight,’ the two made the case that the setup for the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) running and regulating the state hospital is “flawed, and that the Legislature should split up the two to improve the oversight and care for patients. The senators hope to make this happen by ensuring that “the superintendent of the facility would report to an independent, appointed governing body composed of people with experience overseeing complex psychiatric facilities.”
For ‘reintegration,’ Miranda and Shope proposed the development of “a small ‘community reintegration’ unit to serve as a transitional unit for patients who are approaching discharge from the state hospital but who still need structured care.” This proposal was already identified as a “critical gap” by the state’s hospital in its Clinical Improvement Plan.
For ‘facilities,’ Miranda and Shope discussed the need for “persons with serious mental illnesses” to have “safe places to receive treatment with more structure and better qualified staff than are available in existing residential behavioral health group homes.” The senators asserted that former-Governor Doug Ducey’s final budget “included funds to build three such secure residential treatment facilities, including funding to staff them,” but that “those funds were swept out of the current budget.”
Senators Miranda and Shope won’t have to wait long to start the engine on their recommendations to change the Arizona State Hospital with the first day of the new legislative session around two months away.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
The Arizona Governor’s Office is taking action to provide more resources for elections ahead of a crucial year of political contests.
Last week, Governor Katie Hobbs announced that she would be earmarking “$2.3 million in American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funding to support free, fair and secure elections.” The governor also revealed the existence of three new executive orders “to authorize paid civic duty leave for state employees to serve as poll workers, make state buildings available as polling locations, and require state agencies to provide voter registration information and assistance to the Arizona citizens they serve.”
In a statement, Hobbs said, “As Secretary of State I oversaw the most secure elections in Arizona history, but I know we must continue to improve Arizona’s elections ahead of 2024. Election officials and voters are facing new challenges when it comes to administering elections and participating in our democracy. I am thrilled to immediately address some of the problems identified by the Bipartisan Elections Task Force to ensure Arizona voters can make their voices heard.”
The flurry of actions from Hobbs follows the completion of a report from the Governor’s Bipartisan Elections Task Force, which was issued a day earlier, on November 1. The Task Force, established on January 6, focused on five main topics under the umbrella of the Arizona elections system, which were Election Administration, Voter Registration, Early Voting, Election Day and Post-election Procedures, and Election Equipment and Security.
In the final report, the Task Force unveiled proposals under each of the topics. For Election Administration, proposals included a Poll Worker Communication Platform, Incentives to Improve Poll Worker Recruitment, Annual Election Officer Certification Trainings, Election Fellowship Program, and Comprehensive Website for Voter Information. For Voter Registration, proposals included Provisional Ballot Form as Voter Registration Form, Cross-Country Voter Registration, Voting Rights Restoration, and AVID (Access Voter Information Database) Funding. For Early Voting, proposals included Disability Resource Liaison, Emergency Voting to Final Weekend Voting, and Ballot Return Interference. For Election Day and After, proposals included Ensuring Timely Recounts and Reconciliation Best Practices Guidelines. And for Election Equipment and Security, proposals included Election Security Advancements and Election Worker Code of Conduct.
The Task Force concluded its report by writing, “We can, and should, continue to refine our election system to ensure voters have access to the polls and that our election officials – the guardians of our democracy – have the resources to do their jobs well. The Task Force’s proposals are motivated by a deep commitment to these goals, and to the overarching goal of protecting democracy in our State.”
Members of the Task Force were Ken Bennett, State Senator District 1; Michelle Burchill, Yavapai County Recorder; Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, Pima County Recorder; Christina Estes-Werther, Attorney and Former Arizona Elections Director; Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, Attorney and Director of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Indian Legal Clinic; Adrian Fontes, Arizona Secretary of State; Renaldo Fowler, Arizona Center for Disability Law, Senior Staff Advocate; Alex Gulotta, All Voting is Local, Arizona State Director; Don Henninger, The Carter Center, Representative; Katie Hobbs, Arizona Governor (Chair); Scott Jarrett, Maricopa County Elections Director; Ben Lane, City of Scottsdale City Clerk; Ken Matta, Election Security Expert; Michael Moore, Chief Information Security Officer; Brad Nelson, Former Pima County Elections Director; Helen Purcell, Former Maricopa County Recorder (Co-Chair); Alma Schultz, Santa Cruz County Elections Director; and Laura Terech, State Representative District 4.
Helen Purcell, the Task Force’s Co-Chair, weighed in on the accomplishments of her group, saying, “This Task Force is made up of talented, bipartisan experts who have diverse on-the-ground experience with Arizona’s elections. It was rewarding to see them come together week after week to brainstorm where additional support is needed, collaborate on potential solutions, and develop the proposals in the final report. Thank you to Governor Hobbs for bringing us together with a unified goal and for her unwavering commitment to protecting democracy in our State.”
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes added, “I’d like to thank Governor Hobbs, Recorder Purcell, and the entire Task Force for prioritizing safe, secure, and accurate elections. I must also mention all our staff for being generous with their expertise and insight. The work of the Task Force, the Governor’s Executive Orders and the much-needed $2 million in election support will be critical in building towards smooth and successful elections in 2024.”
Earlier this year, the Chair of the Arizona House Municipal Oversight & Elections Committee, Representative Jacqueline Parker, vowed, on behalf of her panel, to “swiftly reject any election-related recommendations of this biased, corrupt, & secretive task force.”
Hobbs hasn’t bothered to respond to my request for more information yet. Safe to say that her task force is not interested in transparency & the House Elections Committee will swiftly reject any election-related recommendations of this biased, corrupt, & secretive “task force”. https://t.co/fL92tezTIi
— Rep. Jacqueline Parker (@electjacqparker) May 3, 2023
By signing the executive orders and designating the ARPA funds for assignment, Hobbs appears to be bypassing any cooperation, as of now, with the Legislature to improve the state’s elections systems.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona’s Republican legislative leaders are wading into another fight with the President of the United States over a recent federal land grab.
On Monday, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma announced that they “filed an amicus curiae in the case of Garfield County v. Biden.” The case, led by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, involves President Joe Biden’s “unilateral move in 2021 of declaring more than 3 million acres of land in the southern part of the state now representing two ‘national monuments.’” Arizona’s leaders are supporting the State of Utah’s position that the president’s action here violates the Antiquities Act. After a District Court Judge sided with the White House, Utah appealed the decision, leading to additional briefing.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: President @votewarren Encourages U.S. Court of Appeals to Weigh in on Biden's Abuse of Power with Land Seizures ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/guTO2XYJ4R
“It is time for the courts to weigh in and stop this federal corruption. Joe Biden’s unlawful maneuvers in both Utah and Arizona promise to wreak havoc on our local economies, the livelihoods of our citizens, and our national security. His end goal is to pander to radical environmentalists by ending mining, ranching and other local uses of federal lands. This has nothing to do with protecting actual artifacts,” said Senate President Petersen. “This federal overreach is unconstitutional, unacceptable, and sets a dangerous precedent. In the absence of Arizona’s Attorney General fighting back against Biden’s dictator-style land grabs, the Arizona Legislature is stepping up to protect our communities. We ultimately anticipate this issue will make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court where the president’s abuse of power will be reined in.”
In their brief, Petersen and Toma argue that “the President does not have discretion to declare anything an ‘object’ under the Antiquities Act” because the law “is a type of conditional legislation that limits the President to ascertaining whether something is objectively an object of historic or scientific interest” and “Constitutional concerns underscore the need to limit the President’s discretion under the Act.” The legislators also assert that “Courts are not powerless to stop the President’s clear abuses of power.”
The lawmakers make the case that “the power that the President claims here is an expansive and aggressive assertion of executive authority. If his reading of the Antiquities Act is right, the only thing preventing the President from declaring all federal land a national monument is his self-restraint; after all, all federal lands have landscapes that, according to President Biden, are an ‘object of historic or scientific interest…’ Such a power, with its attendant consequences for the use of the land, is plainly one ‘of vast economic and political significance.’”
The case is currently before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
On Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced that it had arrested a Tempe man this past weekend “on a federal complaint and arrest warrant by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for making a threat to execute a local Rabbi and ‘every other JEW [sic] I can find tonight at midnight of your Sabbath.’”
According to the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona, “the complaint alleges that (the Tempe man) sent an email on the morning of Friday November 3, 2023, to a Rabbi at a local synagogue in Scottsdale, asking the Rabbi to ‘try to convince’ a judge in Utah to ‘drop the charges against’ (him) in a state district court case in Utah. The email stated: ‘If you do not use your influence to right this wrong I will execute you and every other JEW [sic] I can find tonight at midnight of your Sabbath.’ The email went on: ‘If you wish to communicate with me further, I will only meet in person,’ listed an address for the sender in Tempe, and was signed ‘Shalom, Viktor Sitkevicz.’”
United States Attorney Gary Restaino issued a statement in conjunction with the announcement, saying, “Civic engagement and civil dialogue help bind us together as a Nation. We have no tolerance for those who send threatening communications to Jewish faith leaders or to any other people in America. We will continue to exercise our prosecutorial discretion and deploy our resources to charge threats cases here in Arizona.”
The acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix field office, Chad Alvarado, added, “The FBI takes all threats of violence seriously. The FBI and our law enforcement partners must take people who make threats at their word and intervene, because protecting human life is our absolute priority.”
In the release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona credits the FBI for conducting this investigation and the Tempe Police Department and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for assisting.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Engel has confused which district she’s running in, marking the second year and second congressional race in a row of similar oversights to the district she aims to represent.
On Tuesday, Engel posted about her weekend activities purportedly in the sixth congressional district — except, all of the events took place in the seventh congressional district.
The canvass with Tucson Mayor Regina Romero took place at the mayoral candidate’s headquarters — 2720 E. Broadway Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85716. The tailgate for the University of Arizona (UArizona) Homecoming took place at the University of Arizona Mall (85721). The UArizona Law awards ceremony granting Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick the Lifetime Achievement Award took place at the James E. Rogers College of Law — 1201 E Speedway Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85721.
None of those events were in the sixth congressional district.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) was among the first to notice Engel’s mistake. NRCC spokesperson Ben Petersen said in a statement that Engel’s oversight amounted to disrespect — especially since she made a similar mistake last year.
“Extreme liberal Kirsten Engel refuses to stop disrespecting 6th district voters. The 7th Congressional District is as close as Engel will come to representing the 6th, especially given she can’t find it on a map,” said Petersen.
In July, Engel claimed she was mobilizing her local grassroots support and hearing the concerns of voters within her district — yet posted a picture from the Bisbee Pride Parade, which is outside of the district.
“It’s been an exhausting but exhilarating first couple of months on the campaign trail,” said Engel. “I’ve loved traveling throughout Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, and Pinal counties — talking to voters, hearing their concerns, and mobilizing grassroots support.
It's been an exhausting but exhilarating first couple of months on the campaign trail.
I've loved traveling throughout Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, and Pinal counties — talking to voters, hearing their concerns, and mobilizing grassroots support. pic.twitter.com/3YLlZBwX6V
Engel faced a similar issue with district engagement and recognition last year.
Last September, while running against now-Rep. Juan Ciscomani for the sixth district, Engel held a campaign event at Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson — outside the sixth district — immediately after skipping a debate with Ciscomani.
Several months prior, the Arizona Daily Independent reported that Engel and her primary opponent Daniel Hernandez opted to host their debate outside the sixth district as well.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
