Seven years after its implementation under then-Secretary of State, now-Gov. Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s statewide voter registration system continues to haunt county election officials with its errors.
The Arizona Voter Information Database (AVID) has failed to live up to its promised status as a statewide system that counties can rely on for voter registration. AVID’s continued blunders may be attributed to a premature rollout authorized by Hobbs while she was secretary of state.
In the summer of 2024, the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR) published a report which indicated that Arizona officials knew AVID was launched ahead of the 2020 election before it was fully ready election infrastructure, describing it as a “minimum viable product.”
AVID launched in November 2019, over three years after Hobbs’ predecessor Michele Reagan began the initiative to replace the old voter registration system, the Voter Registration for Arizona II (VRAZ-II). AVID was pitched as a cloud-based solution enhancing data integration and analysis with automated workflow.
Since its launch, AVID has fallen short on reliability and has caused counties to face myriad issues under the pressures of looming elections deadlines.
13 of the state’s 15 counties use AVID to input voter registration and election information. Maricopa and Pima counties input voter registration through their own respective systems which subsequently communicate to AVID through an interface.
Earlier this week, officials notified the public that nearly 1,500 Republican voters in Pinal County received ballots with printing errors affecting precinct committeemen races. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes issued a statement blaming a contracted vendor for the error and promising replacement ballots for the impacted voters.
In May, Cochise and Yuma counties discovered that AVID’s voter registration mailing data was incorrect.
AVID was also behind the major database error that jeopardized the voting capabilities of 120,000 Arizonans in the 2024 election.
Since 2021, the state has contracted with INEXL Consulting to run AVID, which operates out of a single family home in Salem, Oregon. Hobbs contracted with the company in 2021.
State Rep. John Gillette (LD30), a Republican, says “AVID has never worked” and has required multiple contract amendments under both Hobbs and Fontes.
Gillette claims that Hobbs and Fontes have hidden “known problems” with AVID from lawmakers, county officials, the press, and the public since 2019.
“The elected recorders are the gatekeeper[s], and charged under the law for adjudication of voter qualification,” said Gillette. “Under Hobbs and Fontes, this clearly [has] not [been] happening.”
BINGO, the reason is as I have posted AVID , SOS, Recorders and MVD rolls dont match and the BIOS times are not correct. Reconciliation issues. System time and poll book time do not match. What you have posted is what Hobbs and company knew in 2019! https://t.co/PN6vu4tWFF
— Rep. John Gillette AZ House LD30 (@AzRepGillette) July 2, 2026
This past legislative session, the Arizona legislature attempted to pass various bills reforming AVID. Hobbs vetoed many of them.
In a March meeting, the House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections Committee discussed an investigative referral packet covering voter fraud, election mismanagement, and voter roll mismanagement.
Referencing that discussion in a recent post detailing the pervasive problems with AVID, Gillette, chairman of the committee, said that the same problems with the system have persisted over seven years — such as an interface which allows for the registration of non-Arizonans.
“These are [non-governmental organizations] and third-party vendors that are registering people to vote,” said Gillette.
The " Glitch" known in 2019 – still in play in 2026. pic.twitter.com/EYZOGzN3iU
— Rep. John Gillette AZ House LD30 (@AzRepGillette) July 2, 2026
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