The office of Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly has become the center of the latest election controversy in Arizona. On October 19th, the county’s online portal to request vote-by-mail ballots was shut down when voting officials claimed the site was overwhelmed with the quantity of requests. The shutdown occurred a week prior to the Oct. 25th deadline.
According to the Tucson Sentinel, as an alternative, the county office posted a notice at the top of the disabled form page instructing voters to call-in to the office in order to request a mail-in ballot.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Senator Wadsack Launches Investigation into Pima County Recorder's Office Following Apparent Elections Violations
Arizona Senator Justine Wadsack announced Wednesday that she is launching an investigation into the allegations against Cázares-Kelly’s office “following potential violations which may have suppressed thousands of Southern Arizona voters.”
“I was truly shocked to learn our County Recorder’s Office had done this,” Senator Wadsack said in a statement. “These actions are absolutely unacceptable, undermine the integrity of our elections, and raise serious questions regarding voter suppression. This has affected my current constituents and my community, and I want to make sure their votes are protected as well as votes for all candidates involved. I’m here to make sure there’s accountability for the laws that appear to have been broken. My message to voters is to get out today and vote in person to ensure your vote is not suppressed.”
In a letter of inquiry sent to the County Recorder, Wadsack wrote, “You certainly know that, under Arizona law, ‘an elector may make a verbal or signed request to the county recorder’ for an early ballot. Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 16-542(A) (emphasis added). Further, your office must mail voters the early ballot ‘within forty-eight hours after receipt of the request.’ Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 16-542(D). It appears clear that your office violated both requirements.”
Arizona Reps. Rachel Jones and Cory McGarr issued a similar inquiry on Oct. 24th to Cázares-Kelly following allegations that the Recorder’s office, on receipt of undeliverable ballots or those returned due to an outdated address, sent notice that the voters mailed ballot was “received,” creating confusion.
We’re still waiting for answers to the questions asked in our below letter. Received an email yesterday that says they’ll get us those answers asap.
Is asap going to conveniently be November 6th? Maybe never? Why is the Pima County Recorder’s office not already following the… pic.twitter.com/mAcmfUfhZP
Per the Sentinel, Cázares-Kelly’s office sent alerts to approximately 4,000 voters in a mass email to notify them that their requests for a mail-in-ballot were canceled and instructed them to contact the office by phone to request a ballot, citing Marion Chubon, chief deputy to the Pima County Recorder, who ordered the shutdown. Chubon told reporters that the office didn’t inform the press as they “didn’t think it was a story.”
Chubon, responding to the outlet, explained that although the state law requiring ballots be sent within 48 hours of a request (as referred to by Sen. Wadsack), “was a consideration, obviously, and we weren’t going to fulfill those requests in that time. So we chose the more effective option – bottom line, getting those people their ballots that they needed.” However, the state law doesn’t allow for the County Recorder to make such a determination and cast aside requests that have already been submitted.
Subsequently, over 3,000 phone calls were fielded by the office on Oct. 21st and some 1,858 new requests were processed. Between that Monday and Friday another 2,829 requests were handled to the tune of approximately one every four minutes. Chubon told the outlet that she was confident that most of the voters whose requests were thrown out had received one. However she noted that, “We can’t guarantee that every single person called us to get a ballot, but we’re pretty confident that the majority of those were second requests… and those who didn’t fit into that category may have had a hold on their record and wouldn’t have gotten a ballot.”
“We just didn’t think it was a story,” Chubon added. “We were literally just trying to meet our statutory obligations and serve the voters. Like I said, over the weekend, we were processing unprecedented amounts of ballots. We have staff working 12-hour days, seven days a week, including the recorder and myself. We’re all working every day. It was just, ‘Let’s get these people their ballots.’ That was our focus. We would never, intentionally, not try to alert the media.”
Following in the footsteps of his predecessor (now-Governor Katie Hobbs), Secretary of State Adrian Fontes appears determined to implement an Election Procedures Manual (EPM) that is ripe with unlawful provisions. The EPM is used by election officials throughout the state as the rulebook to conduct and run elections, so it is critically important that every provision in the manual strictly adheres to state law.
Now, fresh off an important legal win over the illegal signature verification process in the EPM, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, along with the Thomas More Society, is suing Fontes once again—this time over unstaffed ballot drop boxes…
An Illegal Method of Voting
Arizona law establishes four different methods for secure early voting. According to A.R.S. § 16-548(A), an early ballot shall either be:
Delivered to the officer in charge of elections, typically the county recorder.
Mailed to the officer in charge of elections, typically the county recorder.
Deposited by the voter at any polling place in the county.
Deposited by the voter’s agent (family member, household member, caregiver) at any polling place in the county.
Did you catch that? Nowhere in the law does it allow for the use of unstaffed drop boxes. In fact, if you read through Fontes’ EPM, you’ll notice something…
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes appears to be in a tug-of-war with Governor Katie Hobbs to determine who is worse at their job. It’s been well-documented that since she took office, Hobbs has been off to a rough start with high-profile staff exits, breaking the veto record after killing the bipartisan “Tamale Bill,” and alienating many Democrats by signing the Republican budget. But over the past eight months, Fontes has been working just as hard in the battle to see who’s more incompetent. Not only has he failed to perform the necessary voter list maintenance—leaving 14 Arizona counties in violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act—but he rushed through a version of the Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) that is filled with unlawful provisions.
Now, Secretary of State Fontes has been dealt another major blow after a superior court judge ruled against him…
A bill to better secure the integrity of Arizona elections is making its way through the legislature, but it is meeting resistance from Democrats along the way.
SB 1595, which was sponsored by Senator J.D. Mesnard, deals with the identification and tabulation of early ballots. Last week, it cleared the Senate chamber with a 16-14 party-line vote. All Republicans supported the bill, and all Democrats opposed its passage.
According to the purpose of the legislation, which was provided by the State Senate, SB 1595 “prescribes additional requirements for an early ballot to be counted and valid. It requires a voter to present valid identification by the prescribed days after an election for a ballot that was delivered by a voter’s agents or a voter who does not provide sufficient identification. Also, it removes the requirement that the period of early voting must end at 5:00 pm on the Friday preceding the election.”
Senators Ken Bennett, Frank Carroll, Jake Hoffman, John Kavanagh, and Wendy Rogers joined as co-sponsors for Mesnard’s bill.
Senator Mesnard explained his reasoning for introducing this bill back in January: “An important bill I’m currently working on this session will speed up our election counts. I’ve heard from a number of you regarding the extended time it took to finish counting ballots this year. Folks across the country were asking, ‘Doesn’t Arizona know how to count?’”
The extended time is mostly a result of vote-by-mail voters who drop it off on Election Day instead of mailing their ballot back ahead of time, which take days or weeks to count because of signature verification requirements. If such folks were treated like those who vote in-person at the polls on Election Day—that is, be required to show ID prior to turning in their ballot—it will dramatically expedite election night results without compromising security, accuracy, or transparency.”
In a newsletter this week, Senator Mesnard announced the Senate action on his bill, writing, “Several of my bills that focus on improving our elections process by speeding up ballot tabulation, while preserving accuracy, security and transparency, have now passed the Senate and are advancing in the House. SB 1595 would ensure we treat people voting on or near election day the same, regardless of whether they were mailed a ballot. Those wishing to drop off their early ballot after the Friday before Election Day would have to adhere to the same ID requirements that those voting at the polls must follow. This will avoid the need to spend weeks signature verifying these last-minute ballots, a top reason for the constant delay in Arizona’s election results.”
"…she vetoed all of these, revealing that we're working with a Governor who is playing political games with lives and livelihoods."
Democrat Senator Priya Sundareshan voted no on SB 1595, explaining her rationale that “this bill falls under the category of bills that are making it harder to vote.” She also said that the legislation would change “the ability of people to drop their ballots off through Election Day,” and the increased identifications requirements for late drop-offs of early ballots would add “hurdles upon hurdles” for Arizona voters.
Before voting in favor of his bill, Senator Mesnard stated that there was “universal contempt for the time it takes us to count” the votes after Election Day, noting that 2022 voters for both Hobbs (Democrat candidate for governor) and Lake (Republican candidate for governor) shared this feeling.
Senator Juan Mendez also rose to explain his vote against SB 1595, continuing the Democrats’ fascination over highlighting so-called “election integrity conspiracies,” saying, “Earlier results will not reduce conspiracies,” and “appeasing conspiracies with further confusion only risks voter suppression.”
Representatives from the League of Women Voters of AZ, AZ State AFL-CIO, State Conference NAACP, and AZ Association of Counties all opposed SB 1595 as it progressed through the Arizona Senate. The bill now resides in the House of Representatives and will be considered there in the coming weeks.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
On Monday, Maricopa County began the tabulation of approximately 168,000 early ballots. The county estimated that around 150,000 to 250,000 early ballots will be dropped off on Election Day, with 98 percent of ballots reported by November 11.
The Maricopa County Elections Department counts all early and provisional ballots. Vote Center tabulators handle Election Day ballots. As the county noted, state law allows for early ballot tabulation prior to Election Day.
— Maricopa County Elections Department (@MaricopaVote) October 24, 2022
Bill Gates, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chairman, assured voters in a press release that the tabulators were vetted and staff were bipartisan.
“Regardless of who wins or loses, voters can trust in the results that our election processes, procedures, and audits provide,” stated Gates.
The county noted that voters should be aware of the possibility of an automatic recount following the publication of final results. SB1008 increased the automatic recount threshold from .001 to .5 percent. If that occurs, the final election results would be available by late December at the earliest.
The county’s detailed explanation of its processes, prediction of when vote counting ends, and assurance of election integrity precautions are likely part of efforts to alleviate tensions after nearly two years of vocal voter distrust in elections — especially those in Maricopa County.
Some voters who did not want to receive a ballot by mail have reported receiving one. If you received a ballot through the mail after previously requesting not to vote early, it was likely because we did not receive the request within the time required by state law. A 🧵 (1/3)
— Maricopa County Recorder's Office (@RecordersOffice) October 19, 2022
County leadership condemned citizens surveilling ballot drop boxes, saying that it amounts to voter intimidation. The county encouraged citizens to become poll workers or official party-affiliated observers rather than surveil drop boxes.
“Uninformed vigilantes outside Maricopa County’s drop boxes are not increasing election integrity. Instead they are leading to voter intimidation complaints. Although monitoring and transparency in our elections is critical, voter intimidation is unlawful,” stated the county.
Video surveillance of the drop boxes exists, but isn’t always reliable. As AZ Free News reported in August, the county failed to record an unstaffed drop box for three weeks — a mistake only discovered by the county after a records request for the video feed by the Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC).
— Maricopa County Elections Department (@MaricopaVote) October 23, 2022
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer shared that approximately 1.9 million early ballots were mailed, accounting for around 77 percent of voters (over 2.4 million). Richer added that the county processed over 25,000 new or updated voter registration applications.
Wondering what the barcode on your ballot's green envelope is for? It links your ballot to your voter profile, and it's how we ensure each voter only casts one ballot, and all ballots are associated with registered voters. pic.twitter.com/adFXUiRtiA
Election results will be made available here starting at 8 pm on Election Day, and updated every night. Voters can track and verify their ballot status by texting “JOIN” to 628-683 or by visiting BeBallotReady.Vote.
