by Daniel Stefanski | Jan 3, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona has a new Elections Procedures Manual for the 2024 cycle, though litigation is all but certain from state Republicans.
On Saturday, just before the statute-mandated deadline of December 31, Democrat Adrian Fontes issued the 2023 Election Procedures Manual, after securing approvals from his fellow Democrat officeholders, Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes. In a statement to accompany the release of the manual, Fontes said, “Free, fair and secure elections have been this group’s commitment to the voter from the very beginning. This is what happens when a committed group of leaders comes together to serve their community. It’s good for our democracy and it’s good for Arizona.”
For the first time since 1978-1979, Democrats control the top three statewide offices in Arizona (Governor: Bruce Babbitt, Attorney General: John LaSota, Secretary of State: Rose Mofford). One of the most significant consequences of securing this power trifecta is the ability to negotiate, craft, and green light the state’s Election Procedures Manual without initial interference from opposing political voices, as required by law every two years.
Arizona Republicans were quick to push back against the elections manual and signaled a willingness to challenge the legality of its contents in court. House Speaker Ben Toma stated, “A lawful Elections Procedures Manual is paramount for the integrity of our elections. It’s been a top priority of the Arizona House Republican Caucus. I’m disappointed that SoS Fontes refused to correct many objections we raised in our comment to the EPM draft. We are preparing for litigation.”
The speaker’s reference to previous ‘objections’ harkened to an August public comment letter, which was submitted by Senate President Warren Petersen and Toma to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office after they reviewed the draft manual. Then, the legislators had identified their chief concern with Fontes’ initial offering, which was the “unlawful delay in the implementation of a 2021 state law that helps prevent voter fraud by requiring county recorders to remove any voters registered on the active early voter list who have not cast a ballot during two consecutive election cycles and have not responded to notification from the recorder that they wish to continue participation.” Petersen and Toma asserted that the consequence of this delay would be the perpetuated issuance “of ballots being sent to the homes of voters who may have moved or no longer wish to participate in this process, opening the door for ballots getting into the hands of unintended individuals.”
In a new statement after the release of the approved EPM, Petersen said, “We warned the SOS early on that we would sue if the Elections Procedure Manual was not corrected to reflect the laws passed by the legislature. Unfortunately that did not happen. I imagine there will be many plaintiffs joining the Senate in protecting our elections.”
Arizona Republican Party Chairman, Jeff DeWit, also promised legal action against the manual, calling it an “egregious destruction of election fairness by the Democrats.”
The AZGOP shared four “concerning elements” from its cursory review of the manual: limitation of free speech, restriction of voter challenges, exclusion of Republican oversight, and refusal to heed legal precedent. In its press release, the state Republican party charged Fontes with “trying to take powers from the state legislature that are not his to take.”
Representative Alexander Kolodin weighed in on the EPM, writing, “Fontes’ EPM is not an Elections Procedures Manual, it is a how-to manual to disenfranchise Republican voters and a breathtakingly unlawful power grab. It cannot be allowed to stand!”
While most Arizona Republicans are united in opposition to the 2023 EPM, so, too, are Democrats in their support of the Secretary of State’s submission. Governor Katie Hobbs, who preceded Fontes, said, “Partisan politics should have no role in how we run our elections. This EPM builds on the 2019 EPM and 2021 draft EPM from my tenure as Secretary of State and will ensure dedicated public servants from across the state will have the guidelines they need to administer free and fair elections. Together, we can protect our democracy and make sure every Arizonan has the opportunity to have their voice heard.”
As Secretary of State, Hobbs was required to finalize the EPM in 2021, but a divided government shared with Republican Governor Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich stymied the quest to secure a green light for the manual. Hobbs and Brnovich were also mired in an ongoing political feud, which resulted in legal bar charges that the Secretary of State brought against the state’s top prosecutor and several of his attorneys. After receiving Hobbs’ updated manual, Brnovich sued the SOS “to compel her production of a lawful EPM.” Brnovich alleged that “the SOS failed to provide the Governor and Attorney General with a lawful manual by October 1, 2021, as required, and instead included nearly one-hundred pages of provisions not permitted under the EPM statute.” The challenge from the former Attorney General was rendered unsuccessful, and the state was forced to revert to the previous cycle’s EPM (2019) to govern the 2022 races.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Nov 29, 2023 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
We’re less than a year away from our next election, and if Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is serious about doing his job, his primary focus should be on ensuring a process where it is easy to vote and hard to cheat. Instead, Fontes has been attempting to implement an Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) that is ripe with unlawful provisions all while ignoring a giant (and growing) elephant in the room.
In its last two quarterly reports to the Arizona state legislature, the Secretary of State’s office reported that over 78,000 individuals have been identified on our state’s voter rolls as noncitizens or nonresidents. This number includes:
- Over 53,200 individuals who were reported to have been issued a driver’s license or the equivalent of an Arizona nonoperating license ID in another state.
- Over 1,300 individuals who admitted to not being a U.S. citizen on a jury questionnaire.
- Over 23,600 individuals who admitted to not being a resident of a county on a jury questionnaire.
These numbers should be great cause for alarm—especially when you consider how close some of our state’s races were in 2022—and these individuals should be immediately removed from our state’s voter rolls. So, what did Fontes do in response to this news?
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by Daniel Stefanski | Nov 9, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
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.”
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.
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Oct 30, 2023 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
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…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Sep 16, 2023 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
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…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
