Arizona: Groups to form commission on Arizona election accountability | KTAR

Several community groups will come together Thursday to try to improve Arizona elections. They’ll be trying to correct some problems they say were created by a U.S. Supreme Court decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Samantha Pstross of the Arizona Advocacy Network and Foundation said things were different back then. “The county recorders would have to ask permission from the Department of Justice before they could change polling places,” she said. Pstross referred to that as “pre-clearance.”

Arizona: Judge may rule on claims of Arizona voter suppression | Cronkite News

A U.S. district court judge may decide two critical issues in Arizona before the November presidential election: whether to stop the state’s new so-called “ballot harvesting” law from taking effect and whether to force elections officials to count out-of-precinct provisional ballots. The Democratic National Committee and a group of voters have filed a lawsuit accusing officials of voter suppression after people in Maricopa County – the state’s largest county – waited for hours to cast their ballots in the March 22 presidential preference election. They also claim that making ballot harvesting a felony could disenfranchise thousands of minority voters.

Arizona: Attorney General rejects ‘election bible’ complaint against Secretary of State | The Arizona Republic

Arizona’s fall elections can proceed without an update manual to guide poll workers, the attorney general decides in response to a complaint against Secretary of State Michele Reagan. Arizona law says the secretary of state must issue a procedures manual for “each election,” but that is a matter of interpretation, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich decided in rejecting a complaint against Secretary Michele Reagan. Reagan made a “plausible” interpretation of the law when she decided earlier this year that a new manual doesn’t have to be produced to guide election workers. She argued there wasn’t time to compile one, and said the 2014 guidance is sufficient for the upcoming primary and general elections.

Arizona: Attorney General won’t pursue Reagan over outdated election manual | Capitol Media Services

Calling her interpretation of the law “at least plausible,” the state Attorney General’s Office won’t pursue Michele Reagan for her failure to update the state elections manual this year the way her predecessors have done. Michael Bailey, the chief deputy, acknowledged Tuesday that the secretary of state adopted what appears to be a unique interpretation of the law requiring her to prepare the manual. That book, now nearly 400 pages, is a virtual bible for election workers on every facet of what the law requires and how to handle different situations. Put simply, she decided it’s OK to simply keep in place for this the 2014 manual prepared by her predecessor despite that not being how prior secretaries of state read the law. That decision resulted in a complaint by Chandler attorney Tom Ryan to Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

Arizona: Reagan foe says complaint over manuals could force her from office | Arizona Capitol Times

A complaint alleging that Secretary of State Michele Reagan broke the law when she decided not to issue a new election procedures manual for the 2016 cycle could lead to her removal from office, the attorney who filed it said. Tom Ryan, an activist Chandler attorney who has made a name for himself targeting elected officials over allegations of improprieties or lawbreaking, filed a complaint against Reagan with Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Thursday. Ryan alleged that state law mandates that the secretary of state update and reissue a procedures manual for every election cycle, which Reagan did not do. Reagan argues that the law doesn’t require a new manual every two years, and that it was sufficient for her to leave the 2014 manual in effect. But if Ryan is right, Reagan could be forced from office. In his complaint, Ryan cited a statute stipulating that “a person charged with performance of any duty under any law relating to elections who knowingly refuses to perform such duty” is guilty of a class six felony. Arizona law prohibits anyone convicted of a felony from holding elected office. “If she has violated the law and it’s a class six felony, she should be removed from office.

Arizona: Reagan hit with new complaint over ‘Election Bible’ | The Arizona Republic

A Chandler attorney has filed a complaint against Secretary of State Michele Reagan over her decision to not revamp the state’s official election-procedures manual for poll workers ahead of the 2016 primary and general elections. In a letter Thursday, attorney Tom Ryan asked Attorney General Mark Brnovich to force Reagan to reissue the manual, or to refer the matter to the special prosecutor who is already investigating Reagan’s failure to mail publicity pamphlets in advance of last month’s special election. Ryan also asks Brnovich to “take all actions” necessary to ensure the “integrity of Arizona’s elections.” The secretary of state is required to issue the manual no later than 30 days before each election, according to state law, and submit it to the governor and the attorney general at least 90 days ahead of each election.

Arizona: Secretary of state being investigated after special election issues | Yuma Sun

Attorney General Mark Brnovich hired a special investigator Thursday to determine if Secretary of State Michele Reagan broke any laws in the just-completed special election. Michael Morrissey, a former federal prosecutor, will review the failure of Reagan’s office to ensure that pamphlets describing the issues on the May 17 ballot were delivered to the homes of all registered voters before the early ballots went out. That should have happened by April 20. Reagan does not dispute that at least 200,000 of the 1.9 million pamphlets were not mailed on time. And each of those was to go to a home with more than one registered voter, meaning at least 400,000 people may not have had the descriptions of the two measures before they mailed back their early ballots. She said, though, the blame lies with others, including a contractor and a consultant.

Arizona: Attorney General hires independent investigator to probe election problems | Capitol Media Services

Attorney General Mark Brnovich hired a special investigator Thursday to determine if Secretary of State Michele Reagan broke any laws in the recent special election. Michael Morrissey, a former federal prosecutor, will review the failure of Reagan’s office to ensure pamphlets describing the issues on the May 17 ballot were delivered to the homes of all registered voters before the early ballots went out. That should have happened by April 20. Reagan does not dispute that at least 200,000 of the 1.9 million pamphlets were not mailed on time. And each of those was to go to a home with more than one registered voter, meaning at least 400,000 people may not have had the descriptions of the two measures before they mailed back their early ballots. She said, though, the blame lies with others, including a contractor and a consultant. But Ryan Anderson, spokesman for Brnovich, said the scope of the foul-up was actually larger than Reagan let on.

Arizona: Secretary of state quietly fixes mistakes, but delay could prove costly | The Arizona Republic

Secretary of State Michele Reagan’s office issued incorrect instructions to candidates seeking to get on the primary ballot, and only notified them of the problems in the final weeks of signature-gathering. With the deadline for candidate filings arriving on Wednesday, the lag in correcting the mistakes could cause some candidates to be disqualified. State Elections Director Eric Spencer downplayed that likelihood, saying the changes were minimal. Still, the issue arises as the Secretary of State’s Office is embroiled in controversy over its failure to send publicity pamphlets to nearly 200,000 households in advance of the May 17 special election, and only acknowledging it two weeks later after a media report. That is the subject of an ongoing inquiry by state Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

Arizona: Consultant: Secretary of state trying to ‘deflect responsibility’ for pamphlet error | The Arizona Republic

A former consultant to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office said he was wrongly portrayed as contributing to that office’s failure to distribute publicity pamphlets in advance of this month’s special election. An internal investigation by Secretary Michele Reagan’s office painted the former consultant, Craig Stender, as providing guidance on how to build a pamphlet mailing list for the May 17 election. That list omitted nearly 200,000 households, affecting more than 400,000 voters. Some critics have said failure to deliver pamphlets to all voters might have affected the outcome of the vote on Proposition 123, which won by 1.8 percentage points. The pamphlets included arguments for and against the ballot measure that will put $3.5 billion into public schools over the next 10 years.

Arizona: Judge delays ruling on signature election law | Arizona Daily Star

A federal judge has refused to block a 2015 Arizona law that its legislative proponents admit was designed to try to keep minor-party candidates off the ballot. U.S. District Judge David Campbell said Friday the Arizona Libertarian Party, in waiting until last month to challenge the statute, did not leave enough time for him to consider the merits of its claims or for Secretary of State Michele Reagan to defend the law. That’s because the deadline for candidates to file their nominating petitions is June 1. Campbell said there was no reason for challengers to wait as long as they did before asking him to void the law.

Arizona: Fewer voters in Arizona election, but latest cost $1M more | Associated Press

Fearing another botched election, Arizona’s most populous county opened twice as many polling spots for a special election this week than for the March presidential primary. This go-round cost about $1 million more, even though Maricopa County election officials knew far fewer voters would turn out to vote on education funding and pension overhaul plans. But those officials say the extra spending was necessary to rebuild lost confidence after some people waited as long as five hours to cast their vote for the Democratic and Republican nominees for president. The county cut the number of polling places from 200 in 2012 to just 60 in March to save money. Tuesday, there were 116 places to vote, county elections department spokeswoman Elizabeth Bartholomew said Thursday.

Arizona: Threat of hackers keeps Arizona’s online voting program small | KPHO

Thousands of Arizona service members were offered the chance to cast a ballot over the internet in Tuesday’s special election, but state and county officials say the threat of hackers makes widespread online voting unlikely anytime soon. Election officials sent ballots to more than 4,000 Arizonans stationed out-of-state or overseas ahead of the election, either by mail or through the state’s relatively new online process. The number of ballots cast online wasn’t immediately available, but five counties distributed at least 2,172 electronic ballots, according to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office. “I mean these people are overseas serving our country, serving us, so we want to make sure they’re able to vote,” said Maricopa County Recorder’s Office spokesperson Elizabeth Bartholomew. Maricopa County sent 1,205 electronic ballots to Arizonans in several countries, according to state data.

Arizona: Fact Check: Michele Reagan’s duties don’t include collecting ballots | The Arizona Republic

On the day of the presidential preference election, March 22, Reagan asked a member of her staff to collect ballots from workers in the Capitol’s Executive Tower, including the Governor’s Office. Reagan admitted collecting ballots in an interview with Capitol Media Services. This admission elicited cries of hypocrisy from critics who said she had violated House Bill 2023, which outlaws most early ballot collection. Reagan had supported the legislation, which Gov. Doug Ducey signed on March 9. The legislation, which takes effect this summer, makes unauthorized ballot collection a Class 6 felony. The law, intended to prevent voter fraud, exempts election officials and postal workers engaged in their “official duties,” as well as a voter’s family members, caregiver, or member of their household. Reagan told Capitol Media Services her actions would not have violated the law had it been in effect because she and her staff would be considered “election officials” performing “official duties.”

Arizona: Hours-long lines, goofs with ballot materials. Why can’t Arizona hold elections? | Los Angeles Times

When the Supreme Court threw out major elements of the Voting Rights Act three years ago, Maricopa County in Arizona moved quickly to lower the cost of holding elections. Among its first moves was to reduce the number of polling centers from 200 to 60. With fewer locations, the state allowed voters to choose any polling station in the county. The hope was to make voting more convenient and encourage more people to cast their ballots by mail. It hasn’t turned out that way. The result: stories of having to wait five hours to vote in the March primary election for president, a call to impeach Arizona’s secretary of state, three lawsuits and a Justice Department inquiry. “I don’t know what the right word is to express it,” Arizona Atty. Gen. Mark Brnovich said at a news conference Thursday, speaking of his anger at the situation “as an Arizonan and as attorney general.”

Arizona: Renewed Republican Redistricting Revenge! Arizona Legislature Using Budgetary Power To Possibly Limit Map Defense | Arizona’s Politics

n the wake of two GOP defeats at the U.S. Supreme Court, Republicans at the Arizona Legislature are using their budgetary powers to sweep $695,000 from the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (“AIRC”). The funds were to be used in defending a state court action brought by key Republican lawmakers (and others) as that case heads towards trial next year. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed a new budget into law yesterday. It contains $1.1M for the entire Independent Redistricting Commission budget. That amount is not enough to cover the expected legal expenses for the Leach v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission case, which has already cost taxpayers $1.5M. Primarily because the Leach case had been placed on the back burner (by the parties and the court) while the (GOP-controlled) Legislature brought its constitutional challenge to the Supreme Court (2015) and Republican interests brought their challenge to the maps to the Supreme Court (2016), the AIRC currently has $695,000 in unspent appropriations from 2014 and 2015.

Arizona: Lawyer calls for impeachment of Secretary of State Reagan | Arizona Daily Sun

A Chandler lawyer called for the impeachment of Republican Secretary of State Michele Reagan on Friday after she failed to properly inform the public ahead of the May 17 special election. It’s unlikely that Arizona’s GOP-controlled Legislature would agree to move forward with an impeachment of a fellow Republican and former colleague, but attorney Tom Ryan said it’s necessary because Reagan intentionally hid an error resulting in hundreds of thousands of voters not receiving their election guides in time for next week’s special election. He also accused Reagan of campaigning in support of Proposition 123, one of the measures on the ballot in next week’s election. Ryan works on a campaign to oppose the same measure. “Here’s our problem: We have a secretary of state who fundamentally does not understand her job,” he said. “She is not supposed to be putting her thumb on the scales.”

Arizona: Attorney general won’t try to postpone special election despite ‘fiasco’ | Arizona Daily Star

Attorney General Mark Brnovich refused Thursday to try to postpone Tuesday’s special election despite foul-ups by Secretary of State Michele Reagan, saying there’s nothing in state law to permit that. At a hastily called press conference, Brnovich unloaded on Reagan for failing to comply with state laws requiring voters to get ballot pamphlets explaining the two issues before they got their actual early ballots. And he said there needs to be an investigation of why Reagan hid that information from the public for weeks.

Arizona: Attorney General: Secretary of State broke law, but May special election to proceed | KTAR

An Arizona special election will go forward despite the secretary of state’s office illegally failing to mail publicity pamphlets to more than 200,000 households, state Attorney General Mark Brnovich said Thursday. The attorney general did not pull any punches and said his office was launching an inquiry into the latest voting debacle in Arizona. “We do believe the secretary of state did violate Arizona law,” he told media. “Unfortunately, there is nothing in the statutes to provide an adequate remedy.” Brnovich said Secretary of State Michele Reagan’s office has admitted it violated the law by not mailing pamphlets to more than 200,000 households with multiple voters, but a state law gave his office little recourse to correct the error with just one week to the election.

Arizona: Secretary Of State: No Authority To Cancel Special Election Over Missed Pamphlets | Capitol Media

The Arizona Secretary of State’s office says there’s no authority to cancel next week’s election despite a foul-up over sending publicity pamphlets to voters. Attorney Tom Ryan filed a formal complaint this week asking Attorney General Mark Brnovich to void the May 17 vote. Ryan said Arizona law required the pamphlets describing Propositions 123 and 124 and giving pro and con arguments be sent out by April 10. “That did not happen for substantial numbers of voters,” Ryan said. “And by our estimate could be as many as 400,000 voters that did not get this in a timely fashion.”

Arizona: Ballot harvesting law could impact Latinos and seniors in general election | Cronkite News

Arizona’s new law that criminalizes the collection of voters’ early ballots by volunteers could impact the ability of the elderly and Latinos to cast their votes, according to local voter outreach groups. For the staff and volunteers who work with Latino-focused voter advocacy groups, ballot collecting is a means of outreach that accompanies voter registration, translating ballots and going door-to-door to remind people to vote. Although there is no available data on the number of ballots collected from people on the early voting list, the advocacy organizations’ staff and volunteers interviewed by Cronkite News said the new law will hinder their work and add another hurdle for voters to jump.

Arizona: Reagan won’t cancel next week’s special election | Arizona Capitol Times

Secretary of State Michele Reagan won’t cancel next week’s special election even though her office failed to mail out on time more than 200,000 pamphlets with details of what’s on the ballot. Reagan spokesman Matt Roberts conceded the law about when voters need to get the brochures was broken. And while saying the fault lies with an outside company that made up mailing lists, Roberts acknowledged the foul-up is Reagan’s responsibility. But Roberts rejected the contention by attorney Tom Ryan that her failure is fatal and the election for Propositions 123 and 124 cannot take place as scheduled this coming Tuesday. “There’s nothing in statute that we’re finding that would allow this office to not allow the election itself to move forward,’’ Robert said.

Arizona: Glitch delays mailing guides to 400,000 voters ahead of special election | Associated Press

Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan’s office failed to send out publicity pamphlets for next week’s special election to more than 200,000 households with multiple voters in all but Pima and Maricopa counties, her spokesman said Monday. The error has prompted a Chandler attorney to prepare a request to the attorney general to postpone the May 17 election. Voters are being asked in Proposition 123 to boost withdraws from the state land trust to fund education and in Proposition 124 to overhaul the state police and firefighter pension system. Reagan spokesman Matt Roberts said the pamphlets should have reached voters 10 days before early voting started on April 20 and blamed a private vendor for the problem. By the time the mistake was discovered and new voter guides mailed and received, it was May 6.

Arizona: Dark money group leads last-minute effort to speed up campaign finance changes | Tucson Sentinel

Arizona is already poised to relax rules regarding so-called “dark money” groups starting next year, but a last-minute amendment from the state Senate could make the changes go into effect in less than a month. The proposal to accelerate the dark money regulation changes came late Thursday, as an amendment to HB 2296, and originated with the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, a dark money group that spent about $1.7 million during the 2014 election cycle.

Arizona: Nonprofit Sues Arizona for Voting Records | CNS

Arizona asked a nonprofit watchdog for $50,000 for election registration records, but provides the information to political parties for free, Project Vote claims in court. Project Vote, a nonpartisan nonprofit advocate for voter registration, claims the state violates the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. It sued Secretary of State Michele Reagan, Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell and Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez on April 27 in Federal Court. Purcell’s office has been lambasted since many Maricopa County voters had to wait five hours in line to vote in the state’s March 22 Presidential Preference Election.

Arizona: Judge dismisses challenge to Arizona presidential primary | Associated Press

A judge on Tuesday threw out a challenge to the results of Arizona’s problematic presidential primary despite evidence that there were glitches in the election. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David Gass ruled that a Tucson man challenging the results hadn’t proven fraud and hadn’t shown long lines in Maricopa County or registration problems statewide with the election would have changed the results. “I’m going to find that as a matter of law…plaintiff just hasn’t met their burden,” Gass said. “To prove fraud, it’s clear and convincing evidence. It’s an incredibly high burden. And it’s a burden that’s very difficult to prove.” The ruling came at the close of two days of testimony. Gass noted that while there were problems with the election, throwing out the results would mean that more than 1 million people who voted in the March 22 primary would be disenfranchised. “I can’t find that one, there were illegal votes and two…I can’t find it would have made a difference in the outcome of the election,” he said. “The election would have been the same.”

Arizona: Judge tosses lawsuit challenging presidential primary results | Arizona Republic

After two days of testimony, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed to invalidate the March Arizona presidential preference election. The suit was filed against Secretary of State Michele Reagan and every Arizona county by attorney Michael Kielsky on behalf of a Tucson man named John Brakey, who says his occupation is “election integrity activist.” In their pleadings, they alleged that voter-registration requests were mishandled and the number of polling places in Maricopa County was improperly cut. Hearings Monday and Tuesday were to determine if there was legal cause to go forward with trial. The state and the counties countered that the complaint was neither timely nor adequately prepared. And they questioned whether election law applied to presidential preference elections. Judge David Gass took the matter under advisement but allowed the evidentiary hearing to go forward.

Arizona: Botched Maricopa ballots will cost taxpayers $400,000 | KPNX

Maricopa County taxpayers will have to fork over almost $400,000 to make up for a misprint on 2 million ballots in a May special election. Half of the money will come from the county recorder’s office budget, and the remainder will have to be approved by the County Board, recorder’s office spokeswoman Elizabeth Bartholomew told 12 News Monday. The botched ballots come in the wake of a presidential primary fiasco last month that saw hours-long waits in line. County Recorder Helen Purcell admited she “screwed up” by cutting the number of polling places by 70 percent from four years ago. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating what happened. Separate lawsuits have been filed in county and federal courts, alleging citizens were deprived of their right to vote.

Arizona: Voters testify in Arizona presidential primary challenge | Associated Press

Voters dismayed with Arizona’s problematic presidential primary voiced frustrations with long lines and registration issues Monday during a hearing for a court challenge to have the election results thrown out. Testimony came in the wake of the March 22 election where Arizona’s most populous county drastically cut polling places. The move emboldened Tucson resident John Brakey, elections integrity activist to sue Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan and all 15 counties. In a courtroom packed with elections officials and onlookers, voters described waiting in long lines and arguing with elections about problems with their party affiliation. “The judge is going to have to extrapolate and see how that is a representative example of the variety of similar things that happened to people,” said Michael Kielsky, Brakey’s attorney.