It’s Reagan vs. Recorders, again. This time, the dispute among Secretary of State Michele Reagan and the 15 county elections officials in Arizona is over who’s to blame for letting lapse a committee that makes sure the voter-registration database keeps working. But it’s really about simmering tensions over the upcoming creation of a new statewide voter-registration system — and who will be in charge. “I think the counties got tired of being pushed around,” said F. Ann Rodriguez, the Pima County recorder.
Recorders were offended, Rodriguez said, when state Elections Director Eric Spencer told them in 2015 the agreements between Reagan’s office and the recorders on maintenance costs for the system “wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.”
Ever since, the committee hasn’t met. No one has tried to revive it, until now.
On Thursday, the VRAZ II committee, labeled for the shorthand name for the statewide Voter Registration System, will meet in Phoenix and outline how to pay for the system’s ongoing maintenance. The county recorders organized the meeting in late April and notified Reagan.
Full Article: Counties threaten funding cutoff to force meeting with Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan’s office.