Blackman Calls On Arizona Auditor General To Review 2020 Election

Arizona State Representative Walt Blackman

As many counties across Arizona prepare to canvass their votes this week, attention is starting to focus on what can be done to develop more voter confidence in the integrity of the next election.

And that means taking a good hard look at what worked and didn’t work this year, says Rep. Walter Blackman (R-LD6) who is asking the Arizona Auditor General Lindsey Perry to undertake a comprehensive review of the 2020 election.

“Full transparency to the results of this election is needed,” Blackman said Sunday. “Arizona needs leadership, not silence.”

In the meantime, Blackman says the onus is on state and county officials as well as political party leaders to promote confidence in the election process and address obstacles to voting. That includes ensuring hand count audits are conducted within each of Arizona’s 15 counties as required by law.

“It is the responsibility of the public officials to ensure that the counting of votes is done appropriately,” he said.

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But Blackman is already thinking about ways to improve voter confidence, including ensuring voters better understand how ballot tabulation machines work and that there are more early-ballot delivery options. He also believes there is a need for some changes that only the Secretary of State’s Office or the legislature can enact.

One of those is looking into what ballot tracking tools might be utilized in Arizona so voters can know their ballots were not only received but also accepted and counted.  It would also help if it didn’t take so long to count votes and was easier for ballot problems to be cured, he said.

“There should be changes to ensure Arizona voters’ confidence,” Blackman said. “Election officials need to be allowed to begin processing the ballots some days before the actual Election Day. More so, the public officials need to ensure additional information -like the voter’s cell phones and email address- is gathered during voter registration and the absentee-ballot application process.”

In addition, some pre-election activities could be better publicized, so voters understand the process. This includes more public information about the logic & accuracy testing conducted by Secretary of State’s Office before each election, as well as ensuring that officials are engaged in continuous analysis of tabulation machine vulnerabilities throughout the election period, Blackman said.

There should also be a legislative evaluation of how Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has coordinated with federal agencies “concerning election security and the real-time notification on matters concerning threats and security breaches,” he said.

Blackman’s request for answers from the Auditor General follows his measured comments in the days after the general election.

“From early mail-in ballots to absentee ballots to early vote centers to emergency vote centers to curbside voting, to actually taking a ballot to those who cannot come to the polls and to providing polls on election day that open at 6 am and close at 7 pm, every opportunity has been provided for secure, secret ballots,” he noted last week. “I will work with my legislative colleagues to ensure a fair and true outcome to this very contentious election and I stand ready to reconvene the House and Senate to do the people’s work.”