The Arizona Attorney General’s office along with the Secretary of State issued informal opinions on Monday in favor of verifiable elections in Pima County after they were asked whether a hand count audit of election results was allowed. In response, the Pima County Board of Supervisors will hold a special meeting at 2 p.m., October 21, to consider whether to approve a hand count audit and approve an appointment to the Accuracy Certification Board.
The Accuracy Certification Board consists of two members from different political parties appointed by the Board of Supervisors and who are responsible for verifying the accuracy of the computer programs used to count ballots.
The special meeting became necessary after the Pima County Republican Party notified the County that its member on the ACB, Benny White, had resigned and a new member, Karen Schutte, needed to be appointed. The ACB is scheduled to meet October 23 to discuss the logic and accuracy test of the ballot tabulation machines scheduled for October 24. State law mandates county election departments conduct the logic and accuracy test within 30 days of the election.
The Board of Supervisors canceled this week’s regular meeting due to a lack of a quorum. The meeting was intended to be held Oct. 20 with a quorum of supervisors Ally Miller, Ramón Valadez and Richard Elías, however, Supervisor Elías is unable to attend the meeting due to a death in his family. Board Chair Sharon Bronson and Supervisor Ray Carroll are with members of TREO in Washington D.C. this week.
Because of the time difference, the 2 p.m. meeting time is the end of the day in Washington D.C. and the end of the scheduled meetings for supervisors Bronson and Carroll. Both are expected to be able to participate in the special meeting by telephone.
Pima County Adminstrator Chuck Huckelberry tried to stop an audit of the ballots claiming that conducting one would violate state law.
The Attorney General’s opinion reads in part:
You requested a formal opinion from this Office, asking whether it would violate A.R.S. §16-602(B)(2)(f) to conduct a hand count of Pima County’s November 3, 2015 bond election, the City of Tucson’s mayor and city council elections, and the Town of Oro Valley’s recall election. As you may be aware, our formal opinion process necessarily involves several layers of review and is not, therefore, conducive to a speedy turnaround. We understand time is of the essence regarding your request, at least in part because the Pima County Board of Supervisors is holding its final pre-election meeting this week and would like to consider this office’s opinion on the question presented. For these reasons, we offer the following informal opinion regarding the applicability of A.R.S. § 16-602(B)(2)(f) to the upcoming elections: Pima County would not violate A.R.S. §16-602(B)(2)(f) if it were to conduct a hand count of the races in question because (1) any hand count of these races would be outside the scope of A.R.S. § 16-602 and (2) A.R.S. §16-602(B)(2)(f) does not affirmatively bar hand counts outside the scope of the statute.
Read the Arizona Attorney General’s office (here) and the Secretary of State’s opinion (here)
Wednesday’s meeting will be held in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 130 W. Congress St.
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