Democratic Attorney General Chris Mays, who took office in January, said the Republican-dominated commission’s actions also threatened the public’s ability to know how the election was going. Recorder’s David Stevens had full authority to make decisions that would normally be made in public by a board of directors.

Stevens has also been named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

“Counties can properly enter into cooperation agreements with recorders to govern elections, but Cochise County’s agreement goes far beyond legal boundaries,” Mays said.

Peggy Judd, one of two Republican overseers on the three boards that voted to give Stevens new powers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mays’ lawsuit.

Stevens is the only official elections officer in the county who can hold a special election on May 16 when voters will be asked to approve a new prison district tax because there are vacancies on the county board of elections. I said yes.

“I’m the only man who can run an election,” Stevens said. “He has two options, three. Find me or someone else who can do this, or cancel the election and do it another day. There is no reason to do that.”

The lawsuit states that the board overstepped its bounds by delegating power over elections to another elected official created by the constitution.

This submission comes a week after the board signed a three-page consent form that allowed Stevens to oversee the county’s entire election process.

As Recorder, Stevens’ routine duties include managing voter rolls, mailing early ballots, and verifying signatures after voters return their completed ballots. However, the operation of polling places on Election Day, the hiring of election officials and election officials, and the actual counting of votes were all handled by county elections officials appointed by the board.

Lisa Mara, the county’s former elections official, last month after accusing the commission of harassing her, undermining her authority and plotting to hand over her duties to Stevens. The board had sued her to force her to hand-count ballots in last November’s election.

Mara refused to do a hand count after two Republican board members voted to take unprecedented action and ordered her to do so. Another board member, a Democrat, opposed the move.

A group representing retired Arizonans has filed a lawsuit, and a Cochise County judge has banned the vastly expanded hand count just days before the Nov. 8 election.

Republican board members Judd and Tom Crosby then refused to certify the election results. Then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs sued, and a judge ordered the board to certify the results.

The Mays lawsuit points to the board’s earlier trial loss.

“The judiciary is once again being asked to ensure elections in Cochise County are held according to the law,” the paper said.

She said the agreement between the board and Stevens not only threatens the legitimate administration of elections, but also the public’s right to know how the government makes important decisions about how elections are conducted. said it was possible.

“By moving all electoral duties to a recorder — a separate constitutional county official — the agreement will allow the public to decide how or to participate in deliberations on issues that the board normally considers in its regular meetings. No word on whether it will be accessible,” Mays said.

However, Stevens said the agreement does not give him the freedom to do as he pleases.

Instead, it says the board must approve his decision. He said the contract was drafted by the county attorney’s office and he made only two minor changes before the board approved it.

Stevens is a longtime friend of Republican former state legislator Mark Finchem, a prominent supporter of unsupported claims that the 2020 election in which President Joe Biden was elected was marred by fraud. Finchem has made similar accusations in November 2022 about his own defeat while trying to become Arizona’s chief election officer and secretary of state.

Stevens said any notion that he might use his new role to influence the conduct or outcome of the election is false.

“If that’s true, and I was friends with Mark the whole time I was a recorder, why didn’t I become an elections officer to take over these duties after the 2020 election? Is it?” said Stevens.

“Because I didn’t want a damn job,” he said. “I don’t want it now. I’m doing it because the county needs me to do it.”