Cochise County officials Wednesday unveiled a controversial plan to handcount the Nov. 8 election and assured Secretary of State Katie Hobbs that nothing will be done illegally.
The oversight board said it will hand count all votes cast in the poll on Nov. 8, following the vote to take action earlier this week. This means that voters in most counties vote by mail, so most ballots don’t count in your hand.
They notified Hobbes’ office of their intentions in a letter signed by two Republicans on the three boards. Democratic Speaker Anne English said she didn’t want a hand count, so she didn’t sign it.
Hobbes’ office confirmed to the board until 5 p.m. The position was upheld by the Board’s own attorneys and the State Law Council.
Hobbes appeared satisfied, posting a statement on social media saying that supervisors would hand count precincts instead of trying to count every race on every ballot where the law allows. said.
Hobbes also asked county supervisors whether the county could pull off a more limited handcount, given that the county has not provided details and the election is two weeks away. He said he had “serious concerns” about what would happen.
The board debated the wording of the letter for over half an hour, with supervisor Tom Crosby proposing a succinct reply that did not address the concerns raised by Hobbes.
“I know there’s a lot of work to be done,” Crosby said as he read the draft. I wish you luck. “
But supervisor Peggy Judd added language that said the county will do what it calls an extended precinct handcount and will follow all applicable laws.
“I just want to tell her that I’m going to do this legally,” Judd said.
She added that she thanked Hobbs, who served on Congress with her 10 years ago, for giving the county the opportunity to articulate its intentions.
How I got here: Cochise County voted to require hand count of ballots
Why Supervisors Asked for Hand Counts
Two supervisors said they were dealing with voters who did not trust the election process. would like to confirm the number of machines in
As that ballot review showed, and as election experts said, hand counting is unreliable and susceptible to human error. Skepticism about official tallying machines is growing amid concerns.
Republican Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Secretary of State candidate Mark Finkem filed a federal lawsuit earlier this year seeking a court order banning the use of tallying machines. They lost, but are appealing the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Crosby and Judd initially called for a handcount of every item on every ballot, but attorneys at the state, legislative and local levels have repeatedly said they have no legal authority to do so.
State law does not mandate hand counting of all ballots. In 2018, the last midterm election, 26% of the county’s votes were cast at vote centers. In 2020, that number has dropped by 20%, or 12,098 votes.
Wednesday’s meeting highlighted tensions caused by the protracted debate over hand counting. At one point, Crosby said he was comfortable not responding to Hobb’s office at all, and that he would have no problem except filing a lawsuit.
In a subsequent exchange, he read the advice he received from his attorney, Tim LaSota, and advised that “Katie should read the Election Procedures Manual.” He also referred to the state Senate’s jury verdict for job discrimination against African-American Democratic staffers, which occurred when Hobbes was Senate Democratic leader.
Voting guide: Where to Drop off Your Arizona Ballot and How to Track It
Laws Permitting Hand Counting
There are other guardrails in state election laws on how such handcounts may proceed.
• Counting cannot begin until an unofficial tally of ballots cast at Vote Centers has been published.
• The count includes 4 items on the ballot rather than the full ballot of approximately 50 items. The tally considers one federal election, one statewide election, one legislative election, and one statewide ballot proposal. Ballot items are selected by random drawing by political committee chairs of participating political parties in Cochise County.
• Registered voters who have sworn to abide by the law must count.
• None of the Hand Count Board members were nominated for the November 8 ballot.
• The count must occur in sufficient time to meet the county’s deadline for submitting statewide canvas election results on December 5th.
Judd said he was concerned about the cost of county taxpayer handcounts, but added that he was told the state Senate would help.
Senate Speaker Karen Huang said no one had contacted her office and the Senate was not covering the county’s costs.
Judd later told Republic that Senators Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, David Gowan, and R-Sierra Vista pointed her to state budget money set aside for election issues. .
Please contact the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com follow her on twitter @maryjpitzl.
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