The Arizona Attorney General’s Office informed Secretary of State Michele Reagan on Thursday that Michael Morrissey has been appointed as independent counsel to investigate the May 2016 Special Election. The AG’s office advised Reagan in a letter that there existed some “unanswered questions.”
Attorney General Brnovich writes:
On May 10, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office received a citizen complaint regarding the May 2016 Special Election and the mailing by the Secretary of State’s Office of publicity pamphlets relating to it. On May 24, we received a letter and report (“Response”) from your office. The Response confirmed that the required publicity pamphlets for the special election were not timely mailed. Moreover, it confirmed that your office delayed disclosure to county election officials and the public regarding the scope of the failure for at least several days, during which time ballots were being completed and returned by voters.
Overall, the Response left some unanswered questions about how nearly 40% of the households for which the Secretary of State produced the mailing list received their pamphlets weeks after the statutory deadline and why appropriate election officials and the public were not immediately notified of the issue.
Today I have appointed Michael Morrissey as independent counsel to investigate these questions and shed additional light on the events surrounding the May 2016 special election. Mr. Morrissey’s extensive experience as a federal prosecutor provides us all with the confidence that he will conduct a fair, thorough investigation and pursue the answers that Arizona voters deserve.
The Secretary of State’s office has been mired in controversy and incompetence since Reagan took the reins. Reagan’s decision to wait two weeks after discovering the problem with the publicity pamphlets is emblematic of her office’s approach to nearly everything.
Reagan’s most glaring failure was the Arizona Presidential Preference Election this year.
However, it is the fact that under Reagan, the process required by each county’s elections departments is not uniform and the SOS failed to develop a universal handbook for the election process across the state.