by Staff Reporter | Feb 11, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The state’s elections portal for candidates experienced another outage, prompting leaders of both political parties to cast blame at the other.
The E-Qual system experienced an outage that lasted from Friday through Sunday. This portal allows voters to sign candidate nominating petitions and give qualifying contributions. It also houses some sensitive candidate data.
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes blamed the outage on the accelerated primary election schedule. Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a Republican-led bill into law on Friday that moved the primary election to the second to last Tuesday in July, a bipartisan decision to accommodate military voters.
Fontes said a “typo” caused the outage, which he promised was “temporary” on Friday. However, he said his team wasn’t to blame. Fontes said he was dealing with insufficient staffing and outdated systems caused by the GOP-controlled legislature.
The secretary of state put a price on his problems: $17 million to overhaul the election and candidate-facing systems. A one-time funding boost that occurred in 2024 wasn’t enough, Fontes said.
In a premature announcement on Friday that would quickly be proven false, Fontes claimed the system was fixed. Fontes again stressed that the outages his team was experiencing were preventable — the fault that caused the outage had less to do with a “typo” but inadequate funding from the legislature.
“System interruptions are preventable and my office will continue requesting the necessary funding to mitigate issues in the future,” said Fontes.
In a longer video statement from the comfort of his Super Bowl setup on Sunday, Fontes said E-Qual was “fragile,” “old,” and “outdated” due to the legislature’s refusal to provide fiscal support for updates. Fontes further promised that important data relating to tabulation and voter information weren’t impacted.
“Some people wanted to politicize this,” said Fontes. “The failure is the legislature that has been exploiting this longtime issue that I’ve been trying to get fixed for years and they’re not funding it. It’s as if they broke it and they want to blame someone else for breaking it.”
Fontes later disclosed to reporters that one single person was in charge of maintaining the main election management systems for their office. Fontes said he pays a lot to keep that individual on staff as a contractor.
Republican lawmakers rejected Fontes’ attempt to push the blame onto them.
State Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-LD3), who is campaigning to unseat Fontes this November, said more money couldn’t fix incompetence.
“Even with millions in additional funding, voters are still being disenfranchised by his incompetence,” said Kolodin. “Waste of money!”
In a similar vein, State Rep. David Livingston (R-LD28) questioned how Fontes’ office caused such a major outage over a typo — and how another tens of millions of dollars could have prevented such an error.
“I think the other information, changing July 21, should just be standard operating procedure, and they shouldn’t need any money to do that,” said Livingston. “And if they can’t handle doing that, they probably shouldn’t be running the secretary of state’s office at all.”
Livingston is vice chair of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, which Fontes called out when identifying those who were to blame.
Some lawmakers had a little less to say on the subject.
The new chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, Sergio Arellano, said Fontes was again proving his inability to own his mistakes.
“Arizonans expect elections to be administered with competence and seriousness, and when preventable failures occur, they demand accountability — not silence, not excuses, and not business as usual,” said Arellano.
Last summer, Iranian hackers breached the E-Qual system under Fontes’ watch.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Feb 7, 2026 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
On Friday, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed a Republican bill passed on a bipartisan vote by the Arizona Legislature to change the date of the 2026 primary and permanently move Arizona primaries to the second to last Tuesday in July.
The legislation permanently shifts the primary election date earlier, ensures timely ballot access for military voters overseas, and mandates clearer guidelines for political party observers at polling sites, marking a significant step toward greater election integrity and consistency ahead of the 2026 election cycle.
HB 2022 addresses longstanding issues with Arizona’s election calendar by moving the primary from August 4 to the second-to-last Tuesday in July – specifically July 21 for 2026.
This two-week adjustment resolves conflicts with federal requirements under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), which mandates that ballots be sent to military and overseas voters at least 45 days before an election. Previously, Arizona’s timeline risked delays, potentially disenfranchising service members.
By advancing the date, the bill ensures that ballots are mailed on time, giving voters abroad ample time to receive, complete, and return them.
The measure also enhances transparency and oversight by explicitly requiring authorized political party observers to be permitted at all voting locations, including early voting centers and emergency voting sites.
The bill was sponosored by Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-LD3) with a mirrored bill (SB 1425) sponsored in the Arizona Senate by Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-LD7).
“Arizona law has always intended to protect the integrity of our elections, including for military voters and at ALL voting locations,” said Rep. Kolodin. “I am delighted that Governor Hobbs agreed with me that this commonsense reform and legislation is necessary.”
“This was a unified Republican effort leading the way from start to finish,” Senator Rogers added. “By working together across chambers, we delivered a commonsense election bill that protects military voters, brings clarity to our election calendar, and strengthens transparency for Arizona voters. This is how the process should work.”
New voter deadlines are as follows:
- Voter Registration Deadline: June 22, 2026
- Ballots are mailed to voters on the Active Early Voter List and In-Person Early Voting Begins: June 24, 2026
- Primary Election Day: July 21, 2026
The Primary date change also impacts filing deadlines for candidates running for office.
Filing Dates:
- Partisan Primary Candidate Filing: Feb. 21, 2026 – March 23, 2026
- Precinct Committeemen Write-In Deadline: April 6, 2026
- Write-In Candidate Filing Deadline: May 22, 2026
The measure had the full support of the Arizona Freedom Caucus (AFC). In a statement, AFC Chairman Senator Jake Hoffman (R-LD15) said, “Governor Hobbs signing Representative Kolodin’s HB 2022 is a huge win for election integirty in Arizona. While Adrian Fontes is making radical and unserious legislative proposals, like expanding unaccountable, sprawling voting centers and reinstating a permanent early voter list, Representative Kolodin is leading with bipartisan supermajorities.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Jan 31, 2026 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
A bill requiring local law enforcement agencies to notify federal immigration authorities when arresting illegal immigrants advanced out of committee Monday in the Arizona Legislature.
Senate Bill 1055, sponsored by Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-LD7), cleared the Military Affairs and Border Security Committee with Republican support on Monday. The bill would require local law enforcement to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “immediately when a law enforcement official or agency arrests an individual who is unlawfully present in the United States.”
“When someone is under arrest and in the country illegally, local officers should be able to notify federal authorities without hesitation,” Rogers said in a statement. “Clear laws enhance public safety and honor those who serve, including our veterans who defend the rule of law. Arizona should prioritize clarity over confusion. If an individual is unlawfully present and under arrest, local officers must be able to inform federal authorities immediately to prevent dangerous individuals from being released back into our neighborhoods. This legislation promotes cooperation, upholds the rule of law, and respects our public safety personnel.”
The legislation is intended to clarify existing federal and state statutes governing the sharing of immigration status information among agencies and to establish specific circumstances in which notification is mandatory.
During the committee hearing, the bill drew Republican support and Democratic opposition. Rural Arizona Action, which OpenSecrets identifies as a Democrat-aligned advocacy group, argued that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “out of control” during the hearing, according to AZCentral. The outlet reported that disruptive protesters interrupted the hearing on January 26 using whistles and chanting “Shame! Shame!”
SB 1055 passed out of the committee by a 4-3 vote, advancing in the legislative process with Arizona Senate GOP leadership stating, “SB 1055 is set for a full Senate vote after passing the Military Affairs and Border Security Committee with Republican support, despite Democratic opposition and hostile rhetoric during yesterday’s hearing.”
However, according to Legiscan, the bill is set to be heard first by the Senate Rules Committee before being considered on the floor, per standard legislative procedure. As of this report, the bill does not yet appear on the Committee’s agenda.
Senate Republican leaders said in the press release that the measure was designed to reduce confusion for officers on the front lines and “ensure that communities can trust that the law is applied consistently.”
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 Staff Reporter | Jan 22, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Voters may soon get to decide whether or not photo radar will continue to be used in the state.
A committee in the State Senate approved the bill on Tuesday.
SCR 1004 would ban photo enforcement systems used to identify violators of speed restrictions or traffic control devices from the entire state.
If approved by the state legislature, the measure could appear on the ballot as early as this November. Lawmakers opted for a resolution as a more viable pathway to bypass the requirement for Governor Katie Hobbs’ approval.
The governor didn’t support attempts to ban photo radar in the past.
Last year, the governor vetoed the same legislative language (outlined in a bill rather than a resolution) after its party-line approval in the legislature. No Democrats in either the House or Senate voted for the bill. Hobbs’ veto letter argued that the removal of photo radar would make the roads more dangerous, not safer.
“This bill attempts to remove the ability of local law enforcement to keep our streets safe by eliminating a tool used to enhance roadway safety,” stated Hobbs.
This sentiment was shared by Democratic lawmakers. State Sen. Lauren Kuby argued that certain studies supported the effectiveness of photo enforcement systems to reduce and deter traffic violations.
During voting on the bill last year, some Republicans — Reps. Teresa Martinez, Justin Wilmeth, Alexander Kolodin — did express doubts about the strategy of advancing a bill with SB 1019 rather than a resolution. An identical measure existed in SCR 1002.
Wilmeth said they were “wasting” their time by voting on the bill version of the legislation rather than the resolution.
“I want my Republican caucus members to understand: this bill will pass, and it will get vetoed,” said Wilmeth. “This is what majorities are about, and in this issue we are wasting our opportunity.”
Kolodin said Democrats were defending photo radar under false pretenses of public safety concerns, and that their true intentions had to do with ticket revenues’ ties to clean election campaign funds.
“The photo radar scam is the way that our friends across the aisle fund their war machine. They run candidates in noncompetitive districts and funnel taxpayer money over to competitive districts, all on the backs of hardworking Arizona drivers who are denied due process when they receive their traffic tickets,” said Kolodin. “It’s almost as if we’re more interested in making a show of solving the problem than actually solving the problem.”
State Sen. Wendy Rogers authored both pieces of legislation last year and was the lawmaker to reintroduce it again this year.
Rogers disputed Hobbs’ veto claim in a press release published on Tuesday. The state senator stressed the unreliability of automated enforcement, which is what photo radars operate under. Rogers said it should be law enforcement, not technology, to make the judgment call on violations of traffic law.
“Automated enforcement removes discretion, undermines due process, and turns routine driving into a revenue stream,” said Senator Rogers. “That’s not how law enforcement should work in Arizona. The resolution does not excuse dangerous driving or eliminate traffic enforcement. It ensures that enforcement decisions are made by trained law enforcement officers, not algorithms and contractors.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Jul 22, 2025 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
The Arizona Republican Assembly (AZRA) has released its Final Legislative Scorecard for the 2025 Arizona State Legislative Session.
This scorecard evaluates Arizona State Senate and House of Representatives members based on their voting records and alignment with AZRA’s core principles of limited government, individual liberties, and fiscal responsibility.
As primary elections approach, this scorecard is a critical tool for voters to distinguish authentic conservatives from those who merely claim the label.
The AZRA Legislative Scorecard is the only one, not only in Arizona but in the nation, where a committee of twelve members from across the state invest thousands of hours analyzing over 1,800 bills annually, rating more than 250 bills.
AZRA then publishes these bill ratings before legislative votes, notifying every legislator in advance and inviting feedback to ensure fairness. To maintain integrity, AZRA contracts a national data firm that receives daily voting data from the Arizona Legislative Council, updating results without manipulation or bias.
The scorecard lists 30 State Senators and 60 State Representatives, providing numerical scores out of 100 based on weighted votes on key bills. Scores are presented alphabetically by last name for letter grades, in descending order, along with party affiliation and legislative district.
Among senators, Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) earned the highest score of 98.5, followed by Senator Wendy Rogers (R-LD7) at 96.9, Senator David Farnsworth (R-LD10) at 95.9, and Senator Timothy Dunn (R-LD25) at 95.5.
The highest-ranking Democrats were Senator Brian Fernandez (D-LD23) at 40.5 and Rosanna Gabaldón (D-LD21), at 34.1. The lowest scoring Democrats were Lauren Kuby (D-LD8) at 25.4 and Priya Sundareshan (D-LD18) at 23.8.
Representative Selina Bliss (R-LD1) led the House with a score of 96.8, followed by a four-way tie at 96.1 among Majority Leader Michael Carbone (R-KD25), John Gillette (R-LD30), Quang Nguyen (R-LD1), and James Taylor (R-LD29).
Rep. Bliss recognized AZRA’s Scorecard saying, “It is an honor to be recognized, along with seatmate Quang Nguyen, by the Arizona Republican Assembly for our work at the Capitol!”
Out of the Democrat Representatives, Alma Hernandez (D-LD20) scored the highest with a 49.4 and Consuelo Hernandez (D-LD21) with a 48.8. The lowest ranked Democrats are Quantá Crews (D-LD26) with a score of 26.6 and Mariana Sandoval (D-LD23) with a 25.5.
The AZRA scorecard reveals a significant divide in voting patterns between Republican and Democratic legislators in the Arizona State Senate and House, with Republicans ranging from 78.7 to 98.5 and Democrats scoring from 23.8 to 49.4.
Correction: This story originally stated that there are 50 State Representatives. The story has been updated to reflect the correct number at 60 State Representatives.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
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