by Staff Reporter | Sep 7, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
UPDATE: The Arizona GOP and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell issued a joint announcement on Friday clarifying that the bipartisan observation program used in this year’s primary will be in place for the general election. State Representative Alexander Kolodin walked back the statements reported criticizing Mitchell’s office.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell has found herself embroiled in the hot-button issue of election integrity.
The attorney’s office declined to back a reform deal led by Republican State Representative Alexander Kolodin between Runbeck — the private election services company for Maricopa and other counties — and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
The deal, as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) secured earlier this year between the state legislature and Runbeck, would have implemented a bipartisan observation program and enhanced security, legislative audits of Runbeck software, published an election workflow document publicly, and provided access to historical 2022 election data.
Sources told the Arizona Daily Independent that Kolodin had asked Mitchell to “talk sense” to the supervisors. When the deal fell through, Kolodin criticized Mitchell’s office publicly.
Kolodin told “The Afternoon Addiction” radio host Garret Lewis on Thursday that, according to Runbeck, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Thomas (Tom) Liddy pulled the county out of the MOU, and implied that the board hadn’t voted on the decision.
“Technically, the board of supervisors has to vote,” said Kolodin. If there’s one thing I understand very well is that when it comes to elections Tom Liddy tells the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors what to do.”
Then, Kolodin advised voters to abstain from voting for Mitchell and implied she was a Democrat rather than a Republican.
“If we’re going to have Democrats running that office we might as well have the ones with the ‘D’ next to their name,” said Kolodin.
Kolodin also claimed that the board declined to approve the MOU because voters had declined to reelect them, the ones who worked well with Liddy.
“This is a big way for Tom Liddy to tell everybody eff you for taking all of his allies and control over the county away,” said Kolodin.
Mitchell disputed Kolodin’s remarks. She said that the board had declined to change the terms of its contract with Runbeck to align with the MOU back in March, and that her office didn’t have the authority to decline contractual changes the way Kolodin effectively claimed it did.
Mitchell said MCAO’s authority only amounted to providing legal advice to the supervisors.
“Here are the facts: The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has a contract with Runbeck to print ballots and provide other services. Rep. Kolodin attempted to negotiate a separate contract with Runbeck that would change the terms of the contracts for both the Board of Supervisors and Runbeck. On March 11, 2024, the Board of Supervisors chose not to accept those changes after considering them. Rep. Kolodin has misrepresented the situation by claiming that it was the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) that rejected this change in terms. Quite the contrary: The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has NO authority to accept or reject the terms. MCAO only can advise the Board of Supervisors as to what the law allows the Board to do. Rep. Kolodin’s misinformation campaign is false, irresponsible, and incendiary.”
Mitchell’s statement didn’t sway some local party leaders. Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC) blamed Mitchell in a press release for the deal’s failure.
“The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (MCBOS), acting under the advice of Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell’s Office, just pulled the plug on [the] Election Integrity measures which Runbeck had previously agreed [to] in a Memorandum of Understanding,” stated MCRC.
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by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Aug 17, 2024 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
The people of Arizona deserve elections that are free, fair, transparent, and lawful. As the top election official in our state, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes should be working every day to ensure this happens. And he should be providing an Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) that gives impartial direction to county recorders to ensure uniform and correct implementation of election law.
This shouldn’t be that hard…or controversial.
But Adrian Fontes took it upon himself to produce one of the most radical EPMs in Arizona’s history. In fact, several of the “rules” in his EPM even go as far as to criminalize activity that is protected under the First Amendment—creating an unconstitutional chilling effect on protected political speech. Apparently, Adrian Fontes hasn’t read the United States Constitution or the Arizona Constitution.
Because of this illegal EPM, we sued him. And last week, a Maricopa County Superior Court ruled in our favor, finding that Fontes’ EPM contains speech restrictions that violate the Arizona Constitution, misstatements and modifications of statutes, and failures to identify distinctions between guidance and legal mandates.
So, how did Fontes respond? Did he realize the error of his ways? Will he now properly understand his role and amend the EPM to align with the law? No. Instead Adrian Fontes has responded how you would expect someone to respond when he knows he can’t win. He’s resorted to maligning our organization in the media…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by Matthew Holloway | Jul 12, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
With voter confidence at an all-time low, state and county elections officials have their work cut out for them to run the 2024 polls effectively and restore the faith. However in Pinal County, with just weeks left before the Arizona primary, a small mistake could have large repercussions and does not build voter confidence.
As reported by SanTanValley.com, early ballots sent out July 3 for the 2024 primary election taking place July 30 were mailed, missing a “critical update regarding the return instructions.” The outlet reported that the county, in an effort to alleviate confusion between neighboring Maricopa County’s ballots and its own, switched from using green ballot return envelopes to “buff-colored” envelopes… without altering the instructions to the voter. So the written instructions that accompanied the ballot instruct the voter to use an envelope they weren’t sent.
In a statement reported by The Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent, the county said, “Unfortunately, the directions did not update the change from green to buff. Postcards with updated instructions will be mailed to all voters who received an early ballot. A notice will also be placed on the Pinal County Recorder’s website. The Republican and Democrat Party Chairs have been notified as has the Secretary of State’s office.”
The Pinal County Elections Department and the Pinal County Recorder’s Office provided the corrected instructions via a shared X account, which should have read:
- Step 3: Place the WHITE affidavit envelope into the BUFF return envelope addressed to the Recorder and seal.
The Arizona Republican Party posted an update regarding the error to X writing, “PINAL COUNTY VOTERS See Message from Recorder’s Office Error on Early Voting Ballot Printed Envelopes. The instructions call for a ‘GREEN’ return envelope but the color of the return envelope is ‘BUFF’ color. Follow these guidelines so that your ballot is processed timely: 1. Place your ballot into the WHITE affidavit envelope. 2. Sign and seal the WHITE affidavit envelope. 3. Place the WHITE affidavit envelope into the BUFF return envelope addressed to the Recorder and seal.”
Comments on the post revealed expressions of concern, dismay, and even dubiousness with one X user noting, “These mistakes don’t help anyone.” Another X user added, “Oh gee, who’d have guessed Pinal County messed up again?”
Paz Phillips an “AZ, Precinct & State Committeeman,” according to her bio asked, “Didn’t Pinal County just go through election problems and had to replace people?”
As noted by the commenters on X, and the AJ/GC independent, in the widely criticized 2022 primary election cycle, Pinal County suffered multiple printing errors on its early ballots and critical shortages of ballots at voting precincts on election day which contributed to massive erosion in voter confidence. As a result, the county elections department underwent a very public and costly revamp. However, this 2024 error is clearly not building voter confidence.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Mar 6, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
On Monday, GOP leaders for both legislative chambers’ elections committees announced additional election transparency measures in an agreement with the Phoenix-based ballot production and distribution company, Runbeck Election Services (RES).
State Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-LD03), vice chair of the House Elections Committee, and State Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-LD07), chair of the Senate Elections Committee, shared in a press release that RES entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) guaranteeing an observation program, software audits, an election workflow report from RES, and access to 2022 election data.
Kolodin further revealed in the press release that RES also agreed to cage the ballot sorters, contingent on legislative appropriation. The MOU dates back to last Wednesday.
“This agreement represents a significant advancement in our ongoing efforts to ensure the security and integrity of Arizona’s elections,” said Kolodin. “I appreciate the cooperation of Runbeck’s new ownership and their willingness to provide greater transparency — the foundation of public trust and confidence.”
By “new ownership,” Kolodin was likely referring to the company whose president and CEO is Mihai Toma, brother to House Speaker and congressional candidate Ben Toma (R-LD08). Last August, RES sold a majority stake in the company to Lincoln Shields, a subsidiary of Black Mountain Investment Company (BMIC), whose president and CEO is Mihai Toma.
RES said in a statement that the speaker has no stake in RES and was unaware of the purchase until shortly prior to its occurrence. The speaker pledged to divest his financial interest in BMIC, reported to be over $100,000, around the time of the sale.
The RES CEO is Jeff Ellington, appointed to the position in 2021 after serving for about a decade in various executive capacities. Under Ellington, RES reported significant growth in its ballot mailing operations: from 3.5 million in 2016 to 16 million in 2020. According to the company, at least 45 percent of registered voters in the nation “touch[ed]” one of their products in 2020.
Under the MOU, RES agreed to allow up to three observers each from the state’s Republican and Democratic parties onsite during the primary and general election days to watch in-bound mail packet sorting activity via the loading dock and the camera feeds viewing the loading dock, sorting areas, and ballot storage room entrances; a House-led audit of signature verification and ballot duplication software licensed to Maricopa County, which will be completed this year and made public; a RES report published prior to the upcoming August primary outlining its scope of work and election workflow with Maricopa County and other state election agencies, complete with chain of custody documents, as well as RES documents completed and returned to Maricopa County; and onsite access to up to two legislative observers to view RES’ general election night loading dock video footage from 2022.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by John R. Ammon | Feb 27, 2024 | Opinion
By John R. Ammon |
The United States and Arizona election systems are broken. The last several election cycles have demonstrated the defects in the electoral system and defined the Democrat project to increase large numbers of favorable and questionable ballots and not actual, legitimate votes by citizens of our state and our nation.
Increasing numbers of illegal aliens vote across the country, especially after the last three years of intentional destruction of our borders by the current Administration. Without restating all the proofs and data indicating what has gone wrong with election integrity across America, what can the Arizona voting citizen do to not lose his or her ballot being honestly counted and expressing each legitimate citizen’s choice of how we are to be governed? Project this critical question to millions of votes cast in primary and general elections and the question of election integrity becomes very clear.
Until the state of Arizona once again becomes red in future election cycles, i.e., governed by those who strive to conserve (as in ‘conservatism’) the Founders’ foundational vision of representative government with honest elections, we must use the existing election system to win elections and thwart the dangerous leftist intention of Obama’s “fundamental transformation of America” with a permanent ruling elite and evolution of a Marxist-like governing class.
How do we do this?
For brevity, the following recommendations hopefully will block or reduce the dangerous election manipulations that have occurred in the past three Arizona (and U.S.) election cycles.
- 80% of Arizona ballots are cast by Mail-In-Voting. In Maricopa County, that figure is 90%. The Democrat focus is on the number of ballots cast and how they are counted rather than legitimate votes cast. They have rallied their voters to cast their votes by mailing in ballots early after receipt. By election day, Democrats can be 700,000 votes ahead in Arizona elections. ‘Proud’ Republicans who insist on voting on ‘Election Day’ in person are far behind already in state and national races. Witnessing the terrible performance of polling stations and incompetent voting mechanics in Maricopa County and elsewhere in Arizona in 2022, confidence for in-person voting on Election Day in Arizona should be zero, nada. Until the traditional voting methods are reestablished someday when political and Legislative power is capable of doing so, you should vote by mail in Arizona. If not already a mail-in voter, see the instructions below to get on the Active Mail-In Voting List (AEVL) and do so ASAP.
- Voting by mail in Arizona means filling our your ballot early within days of receiving it at your address, ascertaining that the envelope is properly signed and then delivering it to your post office. Do not wait – fill it out, sign it and mail it at your post office. Proof of the ballot being received, your signature being verified, and your vote actually counted is your responsibility as a citizen of Arizona and America. Remember – you can be and You Are Your Own Poll Watcher.
- DON’T BE A STUPID VOTER – what does this mean? DO NOT BRING YOUR GREEN MAIL-IN BALLOT ENVELOPE TO A POLLING STATION ON ELECTION DAY TO DROP OFF IN A BOX FOR FUTURE (YES, FUTURE) COUNTING. Hundreds of thousands of Arizona voters do this and it feeds corruption of the ballot counting throughout Arizona, especially in Maricopa County. Since the 2018 Arizona election, we have seen election reversals of Republican winners in the days and weeks after the announced results on the night of the actual election date. If you ‘drop off your mail-in ballot’ on election day at the polling station your vote will not be included in the evening results of the general election on November 5th or on the March 19th primary. THAT IS STUPID. When or if it is honestly counted for the final election results cannot be relied on. Ballot manipulation is the Democrat game. Don’t play it. Even better, don’t vote on election day in Arizona – vote by mail early and follow your ballot until you know that it is received, your signature verified and your vote counted. To follow your mail-in ballot and ascertain that your vote is counted after submitting it, see below.
How to be on the Active Early Voting List (AEVL) in Arizona if you are not on it already:
For a registered voter to move on to the AEVL, use this site to change your registration to the Active Early Voting List online or to obtain the form to submit a written AEVL request. Sign the document that you filled out, then mail, fax, or email a scanned copy or photo of your handwritten request to your County Recorder’s Office.
How to follow your Mail-In Ballot in Arizona to ascertain receipt by your County Recorder election center, your signature verification, and the counting of your vote:
After you have mailed in your Early Ballot (very soon after you receive it), follow your ballot at the following link: https://my.arizona.vote/AbsenteeTracker.aspx. This site gives each Arizona voter throughout the state the ability to follow his or her ballot and to ascertain that the vote you have cast has been legitimately counted. Information about your early mail-in ballot should be available within days of mailing it in.
Voters can also sign up for text messages and email alerts as part of the ballot-by-mail/early ballot tracking service. To sign up, visit trackmyballot.azsos.gov.
The Arizona citizen voter is strongly encouraged to use these two links and the services provided. As a responsible citizen, don’t forget – You Are Your Own Poll Watcher. You want an honest election? IT STARTS WITH YOU using the existing system smartly and consistently until we can reform the system for real confidence in future elections.
A version of this opinion article originally appeared in The Prickly Pear.
John R. Ammon is the Executive Editor of The Prickly Pear.
