Critics on both sides of the political aisle are praising an agreement reached between the Arizona Legislature and the new owners of Runbeck Election Services, that is expected to advance and strengthen election integrity and go a long way to restoring confidence in the election process.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Arizona Legislature and Runbeck Election Services, marks the culmination of an extensive examination of the company’s election processes by the Legislature’s election experts lead by Rep. Alex Kolodin.
In a press release, Kolodin assured election skeptics that the comprehensive reforms outlined in the MOU are just the beginning. He is hoping to convince his fellow legislators to allot money to cover the costs associated with caging the sorters.
The demand to “cage the sorters” stems from an unproven claim that ballots were injected into the 2020 General Election through a lapse in the chain of custody of Maricopa County ballots running through sorting machines. Resolving the issue by limiting access to sorting machines through the use of barriers (cages) is likely to enhance voter trust by eliminating gaps in the system, real or perceived.
Kolodin expressed his appreciation for Runbeck’s collaborative work with the Legislature to implement these reforms.
“This agreement represents a significant advancement in our ongoing efforts to ensure the security and integrity of Arizona’s elections,” Kolodin stated. “I appreciate the cooperation of Runbeck’s new ownership and their willingness to provide greater transparency – the foundation of public trust and confidence.” Kolodin also noted that “contingent on a legislative appropriation, Runbeck has also agreed to cage the sorters.”
“(Speaker) Ben Toma deserves high praise for facilitating this agreement. He has shown a willingness to allow members who are subject matter experts, like Kolodin, the wide berth they need to get the people’s business done,” one Capitol insider told the Arizona Daily Independent. “Everyone who was attacking him when his brother bought the company owes him one heck of an apology, because these sorts of deals are very effective at combatting the radicals who are trying to hijack our election processes.”
“Now that the Arizona Legislature and Runbeck have shown how to collaborate and develop methods to increase voter confidence, it is time for every Arizona County official to step up and do their part to improve their processes and transparency, ” said popular Republican consultant Constantin Querard, adding “because voters need a process they can trust in, not broken machines and excuses for mistakes made.” Querard was likely referring to failures like the numerous Maricopa County ballot printers that failed in the 2022 General Election, leaving countless Election Day voters disenfranchised while county officials publicly proclaimed the election a complete success.
The following key reforms are outlined in the MOU:
- Bipartisan Observation Program & Enhanced Security: Up to three observers from the Arizona Republican and Democratic parties will be allowed to be onsite at Runbeck during the Arizona primary and general election days when inbound sorting activity occurs. This initiative provides unprecedented access to critical areas of the election process, ensuring transparency and building confidence in the electoral system.
- Legislative Audits of Software: The Arizona House of Representatives will be able to conduct an audit of the software licensed to Maricopa County for signature verification and ballot duplication. This step is aimed at verifying the integrity of the election process and ensuring that the software meets the highest standards of security and reliability. The findings of this audit, to be conducted in 2024 by a qualified third-party auditor, will be made public, further reinforcing transparency.
- Election Workflow Document: Runbeck will release a detailed document outlining its scope of work and election workflow with Maricopa County and other Arizona election agencies. This document, aimed at enhancing transparency, will be available prior to the August 2024 primary.
- Access to Historical 2022 Election Data: Demonstrating a commitment to increasing public trust and transparency, Runbeck will grant legislative observers onsite access to view the company’s 2022 general election night loading dock video footage.
Well, an MOU between the Ds run state and RINO run service is very reassuring, isn’t it?
How about just leaving the count to the local precinct officers after receiving the ballots? No need to rerun them on state and private controlled machines. That would make things easier, wouldn’t they?
The machines do nothing to stop the shenanigans that went on in the last election.
True, it is the manipulating people behind it all! Never known a machine to program itself.
Ok. Now get rid of mail in ballots and we can trust elections again.
I just voted by mail today! Twice actually since I have addresses in two counties.
Nothing wrong with having addresses in different counties or even in different states, but anyone who votes twice in the same election (unless a prior ballot was invalidated) is committing a felony under federal law. Five years / $10K. Just sayin’…
Just remember it ain’t illegal unless you’re caught
The only way to ensure TRUE election integrity is to comply with our state constitution. 1 day vote, no outside companies. But the only reason we wont get that is because the people that would have to vote on it wont have any guarantees that they will get re-elected in that system. Most of these politicians need to be replaced