The Cochise County election will be run almost entirely by Recorder David Stevens. an election skeptic who said He doesn’t fully trust all of his county’s election procedures and believes the county can and should move to hand-counting ballots.
The Southern Arizona County Board of Supervisors voted two to one on Tuesday afternoon, transferring oversight of the board’s elections to Stevens and appointing county election officials, election day procedures, and ballot distribution. We have waived any statutory authority over how to count and present the results of the vote. election results. Republicans Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd voted in favor, while Democrat Speaker Anne English voted against.
Nevertheless, the Overseer went ahead A warning from the Attorney General’s Office received Monday nightin which the Secretary-General wrote that he had serious concerns about the legality of the drafted contract.
“If you know the legal authority of the draft contract, please provide it promptly.”
The move comes after Crosby and Judd spent months challenging the county’s fall election procedures in a way that drew national attention. attempt to illegally count all ballots by hand after that refuse to prove election resultscontrary to the advice of the county attorney, secretary of stateThe turmoil led to the recent resignation of Lisa Mara, the county’s esteemed elections administrator, who said she was disrespected and harassed for refusing to comply with her efforts.
Stevens helped drive Full Hand Count to Legal Advice. Even before Mara left, the board had already proposed to him more control over the election.
The chronicler is close to former Republican Secretary of State candidate Mark Finkem, who campaigned on the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
Arizona law divides election duties between registrar and overseer, but many counties, such as Maricopa County and now Yuma County, have historically given registrar more authority over the election process. . But Bender appeared concerned about Cochise County’s proposal because it lacked clarity about how much authority supervisors gave Stevens – presumably at polling stations. including installation, appointing workers, approving ballot contests, and finalizing the results. , the election officials had submitted the final results to the board.
Still, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told Votebeat on Tuesday that Arizona County has historically made these kinds of decisions about how to delegate electoral responsibilities and should have the right to do so.
“The county is not prevented from doing what they think is right,” Fontes said.
Overseers move forward after hours of public debate
Crosby and Judd dismiss Bendall’s letter. After a closed-door session to discuss the letter, Judd said there would be no further problems.
Judd said, “I know you’ve been advised. I have this letter, but it doesn’t sound like it has enough character or flesh.” ) didn’t seem to know what to say to us and just wanted to tell us something to stop us.”
Democrat Anne English doesn’t believe there is anything wrong with the county’s elections and vote counting machines, and she feels the board is acting in an inappropriate and unwise manner.
“We built this house on the sand,” said Mr. English, making clear reference to the false allegations about election fraud heard by the Board during a recent working session leading up to the supervisor’s decision. “I think you defamed the election process.”
The decision came after hours of impassioned public comment, both for and against the plan. Some argued that giving Stevens electoral powers would undermine the integrity of the county’s system. Others reiterate unsubstantiated claims that the county’s vote counting machines are not secure, and by not appointing new election officials right away, Stevens puts more trust in the system and saves the county money. said it can.
Al Anderson said Crosby, Judd, and Stevens “wounded the Cochise County Elections Office hard.”
“Their ‘big lies’ and conspiracy theorist supporters must be very proud of them, while the rest of America looks down on us as idiots.” Anderson said.
Another Cochise resident, Bob McCormick, said Stevens was the right person for the job and that combining the departments would be cost-effective.
“The best way to solve this problem is to take on an interim job for the Electoral Commission,” he said.
What is Stevens role?
The deal approved on Tuesday is only temporary. He is scheduled to end on December 31, 2024, just after the November 2024 presidential election.
It named Stevens as interim election administrator, and Stevens edited the document just before it passed. his edits were not published However, the board discussed some of them during the vote.
He said he would have the ability to appoint a permanent election administrator. It also lists some duties Stevens has, such as managing special tax districts, but generally states, “The Recorder shall be responsible for all other electoral functions.”
from 1955 Until 2019, Maricopa County gave recorders more obligations than provided by state law.But more specifically the county The supervisor noted that he retained technical responsibility For elections under state law, even if the recorder was running them. The supervisor still approves some of the decisions made by the registrar, and the elections official retains the obligations state law gives to “electoral officials,” such as submitting the final election results to the board for approval. was still playing.
The agreement Cochise County approved on Tuesday is less specific, giving Stevens some of the duties of election director, including submitting the final election results to the board for approval.
Yuma County Changed Most Election Officials in 2019 under the recorder. But there is one big difference from the deal Yuma County Recorder Richard Colwell offered Votebeat on Tuesday. The agreement called for the establishment of an Election Advisory Board to guide the registrar’s decisions on election administration. The committee is bipartisan and is intended to provide expertise and transparency to the process, Colwell said.
Since taking office in July, the committee has advised him on the appointment of interim election administrators and assisted in decisions regarding the location of drop-boxes.
“So I’m not the one making these decisions on my own,” Colwell said.
Fontes said he has received many messages of concern and complaints from Cochise County residents who are concerned about recent challenges to the county’s electoral system.
He believes it is important to point to the historical perspective that many counties in the past have made decisions to transfer duties to Recorders. he said.
“I say, if it’s not bad, don’t fix it,” he said.
