HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/20/2023 Item 062 MOHAVE COUNTY REQUEST FOR BOARD ACTION FORM
FORMAL ACTION X
FROM: Supervisor Lingenfelter— District 1 CONSENT
CONTACT/EXT: 4722 RESOLUTION
DATE: 11/16/2023 OTHER
BOS MEETING DATE: 11/20/2023 INFORMATION ONLY
SUMMARIZE THE ISSUE & DESIRED ACTION CLEARLY/ATTACH BACKUP MATERIAL:
The County of Mohave has received written commitments covering both the expanse of any future
contemplated litigation and the volunteers required to carry out hand tabulation of ballots for the 2024
elections.
RECOMMENDED MOTION:
Approve and direct the Mohave County Elections Department to carry out hand
tabulation of ballots for the 2024 elections.
ATTACHMENTS:
-Letter from Attorney Bryan Blehm covering all potential legal expenses
-Letter from Mohave County Republican Central Committee Chair confirming volunteers
-Elections Department report of 1-Aug-2023
-Meeting Minutes of 5-Jun-2023
-Letter from Senator Borrelli, Arizona Senate Majority Leader
Reviewed and Approved By:
County Attorney Human Resources 0 Finance 0 County Manager 0
Board Action Taken:
Approved as Requested 0 No Action Taken= Disapproved
Continued to 0 Approved with the following changes:
Acknowledged receipt and referred to:
Filing Information and Retrieval
Filed Bid Filed Agreement
BOS Resolution Filed Yearly Correspondence 0'c6A- � o
Filed Petition Filed Dedication
Filed Land Sold Filed Land Acquired
Filed Franchise ID Resolution
Filed Improvement District Filed Other
Date Routed:
Additional Information:
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} LETTER FROM ATTORNEY BRYAN BLEHM
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COVERING ALL POTENTIAL LEGAL EXPENSES
OF LITIGATION
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November 16, 2023
VIA EMAIL ONLY
Chairman Travis J. Lingenfelter
Mohave County Board of Supervisors
Re: Hand Count of Ballots
Dear Chairman Lingenfelter and County Supervisors:
It is my understanding that the Mohave County Board of Supervisors is
interested in conducting a hand count of ballots for the upcoming Presidential
Election cycle but that the Board fears expensive lawsuits as a result of any such
decision.
I am hereby informing the Board that if it moves forward with hand counts
and Mohave County is sued for doing so, I will represent Mohave County at no cost
to Mohave County. This includes any and all appeals of any actions brought by any
party. Any litigation will be 100% private pay.
As you know, Arizona law makes the use of machines to tabulate ballots
elective, and the Secretary of State has no legal authority to rewrite Arizona statute.
It is well within Mohave County's right to hand count its ballots. t
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Please let me know if you need anything additional from me. I look forward
to working with you and the Board towards the attainment of your goals. r
Sincerely,
Blehm Law PLLC
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Bryan James Blehm
Attorney at Law
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10869 N.Scottsdale Rd.,Scottsdale,AZ 85254•(office)602.753.6213•bryan@blehmlegal.com
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LETTER FROM MOHAVE COUNTY REPUBLICAN
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CENTRAL COMMITTEE CHAIR CONFIRMING
VOLUNTEERS
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Mohave County Republican Central Committee
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November 15, 2023
Chairman Lingenfelter
Mohave County Board of Supervisors
700 S. Beale Street,
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n Kingman,A 86401
Dear Chairman Lingenfelter,
Please accept this letter as confirmation that the Mohave County Republican Party does indeed have over
300 volunteers committed to help hand count at the next election. Our 300 volunteers have promised to
work with zero compensation.
The Republican voters of Mohave County understand the importance of holding a hand count.They
understand the need to validate votes and prove the process of an actual hand-count can work.
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We appreciate your courage and desire to take this huge step for Mohave County and for Arizona.
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`< Jeanne Kentch
Chairwoman
Mohave County Republican Central Committee
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MOHAVE COUNTY',REQU15ST FOR BOARD ACTION FORM
FORMAL ACTION:
FROM: Allen Tempert CONSENT ❑
} CONTACT/EXT: x4096 RESOLUTION ❑
DATE: July 20, 2023 OTHER ❑ l
BOS MEETING DATE: August 1, 2023 INFORMATION ONLY ❑
SUMMARIZE THE ISSUE & DESIRED ACTION CLEARLY/ATTACH BACKUP MATERIAL:
On June 5, 2023, the Board of Supervisors directed staff to review and develop a plan for tabulating
the 2024 elections by hand. Between June 22, 2023, and June 26, 2023, the Mohave County
Elections Department carried out a study to test the feasibility and best practices of carrying out a full-
hand tabulation of the 2024 elections.
The Mohave County Elections Department has developed a plan for tabulating the 2024 elections by
hand, which plan is attached.
RECOMMENDED MOTION:
Discussion and possible action RE: Review the proposed plan for hand tabulating the ballots for the
2024 elections, and adopt, modify, or reject the proposed plan.
ATTACHMENT(S):
Ballot Hand Tally Executive Summary
Ballot Hand Tally Analysis
Reviewed and Approved By:
County Attomey 'AJ-
Human Resources ❑ Finance County Manager
Board Action Taken:
Approved as Requested Q No Action TakenN Disapproved ❑
Continued to Approved with the following changes:
Acknowledged receipt and referred to
`s Filing Information and Retrieval
Filed Bid Filed Agreement
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BOS Resolution Filed Yearly Correspondence
Filed Petition Fled Dedication
Filed Land Sold Filed Land Acquired
Flied Fninchise ID Resolution
Fled Improvement District Filed Other
Date Routed: Cs RWO
Additional Information:
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2024
BALLOT HAND TALLY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On June 5,2023,the Mohave County Board of Supervisors directed the Mohave County Elections Department i
to form a plan to hand count the 2024 Elections and return the plan to the Board of Supervisors for approval. fr
From June 22, 2023 thru June 26, 2023, a group of seven (7) part-time elections staff conducted a hand tally
study of 850 ballots used for the 2022 General Election Logic and Accuracy test. The time to count the 850
ballots was three(3)days,at eight(8) hours per day.The process for the hand tally included:
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• Seven(7)experienced part-time election staff members who tallied the ballot sample group.
• Four(4) experienced full-time election staff members who monitored the process, time to tally, and
errors during the tallying process.
CONFIDENTIALITY,TIMELINESS,ACCURACY,AND COST MUST BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS PROCESS.
Confidentiality of the Tally Prior to Election Day
A.R.S.§16-551(C)states in part: "Partial or complete tallies of the early election board shall not be released or
divulged before all precincts have been reported or one hour after the closing of the polls on election day,
whichever occurs first. Any person who unlawfully releases information regarding vote tallies or who
possesses a tally sheet or summary without authorization from the recorder or officer in charge of elections is
guilty of a class 6 felony." [
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Timeliness of Results
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In 2024, Mohave County will administer the Presidential Preference Election (PPE),the Primary Election, and
the General Election.
• Primary Election: All ballots shall be counted, the results certified (canvassed), and delivered to the
Arizona Secretary of State's Office within fourteen (14) days after the Primary Election. [A.R.S. §16-
645(B)].
• Presidential Preference Election: "... the Presidential Preference Election shall be conducted and
canvassed in the same manner"as the Primary Election. [A.R.S. §16-241(C)].
• General Election:"The governing body holding an election shall meet and canvass the election not less
than six days nor more than twenty days following the election." [16-642(A)].
Accuracy of Results
The test deck of 850 ballots had approximately 36 races per ballot,for approximately 30,600 races. There were
46 race errors that occurred during the tallying process. In an election,to rectify any errors election workers
would have to retally the votes for each of the races.The time to re-tally races was not included in the tally
study time.
Estimated Cost of the Hand Tally Process
Costs associated with hand tallying ballots include a venue large enough to accommodate the hand tally
boards, network infrastructure suitable for live streaming tallying activities and recording the event,
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compensation for part-time and additional full-time elections staff, and security guards that will be present i
during the hand tallying process.
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2024
MOHAVE COUNTY
BALLOT HAND TALLY ANALYSIS
On June 5,2023,the Mohave County Board of Supervisors(Board)directed the Mohave County Elections
Department to form a plan to hand count the 2024 Elections and return the plan to the Board of
Supervisors for approval.
To fulfill the Board's directive,the Elections Department conducted a hand tally study. The Department
conducted the study from June 22-26, 2023. The study consisted of the 850 ballot test deck used in the
2022 General Election Logic and Accuracy Tests, seven (7) part-time elections staff, and four(4)full-time
elections staff members. This portion of the study took three(3)workdays to complete. Hand tally board
members and staff monitoring the process worked 8 hours per day to complete the tallying of all the
ballots. The process was generally as follows: t
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• The seven (7) member hand count board consist of one person calling (caller) out the race and
t candidates' names; two people watching (watchers) making sure the "caller" calls out the
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information correctly;two people marking(markers)the race on their separate tally sheets;and
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two"watchers"making sure each"marker"marks the race correctly. This board is made up of an
equal number of people from the two major parties and/or parties not designated.
• Staff selected the 2022 General Election Logic and Accuracy test deck as the sample study because
staff was already familiar with the deck, and the deck had already been tested and shown to be
completely accurate. For the 2022 election both the Secretary of State staff and the Election
Department staff had certified the vote tallies for each candidate, for each race, and for each
voting precinct as true and correct in both the pre-election and post-election Logic and Accuracy
public tests. i
• The Department selected seven (7) experienced part-time election staff members to hand tally
the ballot sample group.
• Experienced full-time election staff members monitored the hand tallying process. Time to tally
ballots and errors that occurred during the tallying process were both documented. I
• Prior to hand tallying all the ballots they were sorted by precinct,which is required for the election
canvass. [A.R.S. §16-643]. Verifying the ballots were sorted correctly is required before tallying
begins.
• Staff created tally sheets specific to each precinct to account for special district races, such as s
school districts, water districts, fire districts, etc.This was necessary to simplify the tally process
and to reduce errors by the persons tallying ballots.
Throughout this study:tally means count, a tallier refers to the workers tallying(counting) ballots,and a
tally board is a seven-person group tallying ballots.
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Four major factors were considered in this study: (1) confidentiality of the tally prior to Election Day, (2)
timeliness of results, (3)accuracy of results, and (4)the estimated cost of the hand tally process.
CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE TALLY PRIOR TO ELECTION DAY
A.R.S. §16-551(C) states in part: "Partial or complete tallies of the early election board shall not be
released or divulged before all precincts have been reported or one hour after the closing of the polls on
election day, whichever occurs first. Any person who unlawfully releases information regarding vote
tallies or who possesses a tally sheet or summary without authorization from the recorder or officer in
charge of elections is guilty of a class 6 felony."
To assure confidentiality of the vote tally,staff recommends ballot tallying start after Election Day. Initial
election results are not allowed to be released prior to 8:00 PM election night. For the General Election,
all ballots will have to be tallied within three (3) weeks. For the Primary and Presidential Preference
elections,the ballots will have to be tallied within two(2)weeks after the election.
For the General Election, in order to timely complete the elections, staff estimates the County must hire
hundreds of people to tally the ballots. Staff anticipates many workers will not continue to work seven
_ (7) days a week, eight (8) hours a day, for possibly three (3) weeks following Election Day. Many more
people will have to be hired and trained to fill vacant positions,due to people not committing to the entire
time,attrition,and other unforeseen circumstances.
Staff is concerned about the leakage of confidential ballot tallies and ballot information leading up to the
election. For prior elections in which Election Department staff used machines for the tabulation of
ballots,only two staff members,the Elections Director and the Deputy Director, were aware of the vote
tallies,vote trends,and vote results leading up to the unofficial vote declarations. When a hand count is
used to count votes,the number of people who know the vote tallies and vote trends grows exponentially
because many more people are involved in the vote calculation. These workers will be counting the races,
and they will learn,firsthand,who is winning and who is not. They will have knowledge leading up to the
date the information can be released. This information can easily be leaked to the public, prior to 8:00
PM election night.
Given that many more people will have knowledge of the vote counts prior to the date that such
information may be announced to the public, staff recommends shortening the timeframe for counting
the ballots so there is less of an opportunity for these workers to give in to the temptation of divulging
vote tallies. Staff recommends delaying the hand counting of ballots until after election day.
TIMELINESS OF RESULTS
In 2024 Mohave County will administer three statewide elections: the Presidential Preference Election
(PPE) (March 19, 2024), the Primary Election (August 6, 2024), and the General Election (November 5,
2024).
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All ballots shall be counted, the results certified (canvassed), and delivered to the Arizona Secretary of
State's Office within fourteen(14)days after the Primary Election. [A.R.S.§16-645(B)]. "...the Presidential
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Preference Election shall be conducted and canvassed in the same manner" as the Primary Election.
[A.R.S. §16-241(C)]. The General Election shall be canvassed not more than twenty (20) days following
the election. [A.R.S. §16-642(A)].
Early voting begins 27 days prior to the election.Approximately one week after the start of early voting a
sufficient number of ballots are received by the Elections Department from the Recorder to start
processing for the count. The current process entails a group of election part-time staff members,
referred to as the Early Ballot Board,accounting for,opening,and preparing ballots to be counted on the r
tabulation equipment. This process runs daily once ballots are received. The Early Ballot Board will
account for,open,and prepare ballots whether it is a machine count or a hand tally.
If the Board determines that confidentiality of the vote tallies can be preserved while tallying ballots,the
above canvass requirements will allow the County to hand tally ballots for 20 days prior to the Primary
and PPE elections plus 13 days after the election for a total of 33 days. If the Board agrees with staffs
recommendation to delay the counting of ballots until after Election Day,there will only be 13 days after
the election to complete the tally, leaving one day for the Board to canvass the results.
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If the Board determines that confidentiality of the vote tallies can be preserved while tallying ballots,the
above canvass requirements will allow the County to hand tally ballots for 20 days prior to the General
election plus 19 days after the election for a total of 39 days. If the Board agrees with staffs
recommendation to delay tallying the ballots until after Election Day,there will only be 19 days after the
election to complete the tally, leaving one day for the Board to canvass the results.
The timelines above include tallying of ballots on weekends and holidays.
The study, performed by experienced staff,determined that it took up to three(3) minutes to hand tally
a marked ballot from the 2022 General Election. This election, which is typical of a General Election,
included an average of 36 races per ballot style. During the tally process all races need to be
acknowledged, whether a vote was cast for one or more candidates in each race. There were 105,000
ballots cast in the 2020 General Election. It will take one group of seven (7) people 315,000 minutes,
which equates to 5,250 work hours,657 eight-hour days,to tally 105,000 ballots.
Staff anticipates more ballots for the 2024 General Election due to population growth.
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The above calculation does not consider the time necessary for the tally boards to reconcile errors made
during the counting of ballots. These errors must be resolved by recounting the same ballots for any race 4
or races where the error(s)occurred.
Write-in candidates were not acknowledged in the above calculation. Recording of votes for write-in
candidates is required to be a part of the canvass for local, state, and federal level offices. The 2020
General Election had 15,335 write-in votes. All write-in votes need to be acknowledged, regardless of
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whether a Qualified write-in candidate existed for the race or not. Only official write-in candidates are
tallied.
Each of the 105,000 or more ballots that will be cast for the 2024 General Election will have to be reviewed
a second time to capture and record the write-in information. It will take an average of 30 seconds per
ballot to acknowledge write-in votes and tally official write-in candidates. This process could not be done
at the same time as tallying votes for candidates whose names are officially printed on the ballot due to
the high probability of errors that will occur. The tallying of write-in votes will take weeks to accomplish
and require many people to be hired for write-in tally boards in addition to the hundreds of people needed
to tally ballots.
For the General Election eighteen (18)additional people will have to be hired as a Write-in Board. Three
(3) people are required for each board. For 105,000 ballots it will take 875 hours for one write-in board
to complete. Write-in tallying would start right after Election Day.
[Approximately$14 per hour times 18 people times 19 days times 8 hours per day per
person. Total Cost: $38,304.]
For the Primary Election twelve (12) additional people will have to be hired as a Write-in Board. Three
people are required for each board. For 50,000 ballots it will take approximately 450 hours for one write-
in board to complete. Write-in tallying would start right after Election Day.
[Approximately $14 per hour times 12 people times 13 days times 8 hours per day per
person. Total Cost:$17,472.]
AccuRAcy of REsuLTs
For the study, experienced election board workers hand tallied 850 ballots, consisting of approximately ?
30,600 races,over a 3-day period. The workers made forty-six(46)errors on races,meaning each of these
forty-six(46)races would have to be retallied to get the correct vote total per candidate. While preparing t
the original 2022 General Election ballot test deck,consisting of 850 ballots,it took a substantial amount
of time to correct errors. Knowing this,the time to retally races with errors was not part of the ballot tally
time study.
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Some of the observed errors included:
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`s • Caller called the wrong candidate and both watchers failed to notice the incorrect call;
• Tally markers tried to work out inconsistencies while tallying;
• Tally markers marked a vote for an incorrect candidate and the watchers failed to notice the error;
• Caller calling too fast resulted in double marking a candidate or missed marking a candidate; s
• Caller missed calling a vote for a candidate and both watchers failed to notice the omission;
• Watchers not watching the process due to boredom or fatigue;
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• illegible tally marking caused incorrect tally totaling;
• Enunciation of names caused incorrect candidate tally;and
• Using incorrect precinct tally sheets to tally ballots resulted in incorrect precinct level results.
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In addition to all the processes above,the process of accumulating election results daily at a precinct level,
for each race and each candidate, must be reported to the Secretary of State's Office in a format that is s
readable for their reporting system. To accomplish this, results must be accumulated by Election staff
daily and verified prior to submission to the Secretary of State's Office.The accumulated results will have
to be hand entered into the Election Management System. This process is prone to data entry error
leading to possible incorrect results being reported to the Secretary of State's Office. Transmitting correct {
election results to the Secretary of State's Office is vital and must be performed by the Elections Director
and his full-time staff. The security of the data being hand entered into the Election Management System
and transmitted to the Secretary of State's office cannot be compromised by anyone else performing this
function.
ESTIMATED COST OF THE HAND TALLY PROCESS
To determine the additional costs of hand tallying ballots versus using the current machine count process
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requires considering the costs of equipping a venue large enough to accommodate the staffing,
equipment, and statutorily mandated technology, such as live streaming the process to the public. The
cost of securing adequate staff to perform the hand tally is the greatest expense.
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The Fairgrounds is the only suitable location in Kingman that is large enough to accommodate the number
of people needed to perform the hand tally and provide enough spacing between groups to allow them
to work in an environment free from distractions. All tallying must be done at one central location to
control the validity of the process. Ballots will have to be transported between the Elections Department
and the Fairgrounds multiple times per day. Vehicles will have to be acquired from Motor Pool, and
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security guards will have to be hired to transport the ballots throughout the day. Political party members i
should be available to accompany the transportation of ballots each time they are moved between the II
Elections Department and the Fairgrounds to ensure the chain of custody requirements are being met. A
sworn,deputized member of the Elections Department must accompany the transportation of ballots.
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Live video streaming will be necessary throughout one or more of the Fairgrounds building(s), requiring
considerable computer network infrastructure improvements. The cost to perform these improvements
is unknown at this point.
It will be necessary to purchase and install cameras throughout the Fairground's building(s) so that each
group of ballots being tallied can be streamed to the public and recorded. A minimum of 40 cameras with
adequate storage are required. An unofficial estimate to purchase and install a camera system that will
meet these needs could cost between$90,000 to$100,000. An official cost estimate to meet these needs
will take place near the end of July.
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Elections Department Staff Members,Tally Board Members,and Security Guards
Elections Department Staff Members:
A new full-time Elections staff position will have to be created to recruit, hire, schedule background
' checks,train talliers,create tally sheets specific for each election for each precinct, process payment and
timesheets for tally boards,and complete all necessary employment paperwork to keep hand tally boards
full of qualified people from each of the major political parties as well as people registered as no party s'
preference throughout the process. For a person to qualify as a tally board member, they will have to
pass a background check, complete Mohave County's New Employee Orientation, and be registered to
vote in Arizona. Estimated annual salary including benefits for this position will be approximately$75,000.
Staff calculates that a minimum of 245 people will be required as hand tally members for the 2024 General
Election. This will be the number of people needed if every person recruited participated in the process
every day. This will not be the case. Therefore, it is estimated that at least twice the number of people
needed will have to be recruited, hired, and trained to do the hand tallies. Training the core people as
well as alternates will be a time consuming and expensive venture.Training will have to occur on a regular
basis because new people will be coming in and out of the groups. The time to train the talliers on each 4
person's first day will delay the counting process.
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This training will entail, amongst other things, how to determine voter's intent.Voter's intent means to
determine what the voter intended to select when they make an unclear,imperfect,or unorthodox mark
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on the ballot. Three people from each group will have to determine the voter's intent. This is not unlike
the current process when ballots are tabulated on voting tabulation equipment and these same
discrepancies occur. Currently, groups of three trained election staff members determine voter intent.
They acquire expertise because the same three people work together in a group every day to determine
the voter intent on every ballot out-stacked by the tabulation machine. Tabulation machines out-stack
ballots when an inconsistency of a voter's mark is recognized.The out-stacking requires trained election
staff members to review each of the out-stacked ballots and adjudicate voter's intent. The consistency
will be very different when approximately one hundred people are interpreting voter intent during a hand
count. See Exhibit A,Adjudication/Duplication—Voter Intent Examples.
Two(2)additional Early Board part-time staff will be required to sort ballots by precinct for all three (3) 't
elections and,additionally, by parry for the Primary and PPE,during the ballot tally process.
[Approximately$14 per hour times 2 people times 75 days(20 days prior to all 3 elections
and 5 days for late early ballots for all 3 elections)times 8 hours per day per person. Total
Cost:$16,800.1
Six (6) additional part-time staff members will be required to supervise the tally process as well as
accumulate daily tallies.The accumulated tallies will have to be validated for accuracy before being sent
to full-time election staff to prepare and transmit to the Secretary of State's Office.
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[Approximately$14 per hour times 6 people times 45 days(13 days after both the Primary
and PPE and 19 days after the General) times 8 hours per day per person. Total Cost:
$30,240.]
Tally Board Members:
_ Staff does not foresee that a substantial and equal number of people from the major political parties will
volunteer to count the ballots. It is unlikely to find the large number of people who have the time and
dedication to voluntarily commit to the substantial time needed to complete this process. In fact, it will
be challenging to find the total number of people who are willing to be compensated for the hand tallying.
Given that money would be a motivating factor to find people willing to perform this work, staff
recommends compensating the tally board members.
To assure accuracy and consistency of the tally process the same core group of people will have to commit
the time necessary from start to finish. Using people who can only commit part-time will slow down the
tallying process and will result in greater tallying errors. In addition,volunteers/workers will have to be
of equal numbers from each of the major political parties in Mohave County.
One option is hiring hundreds of people through a temporary agency, at over$20.00 per hour,assuming
the temporary staffing services would be able to fill the county's needs.
A second option is to coordinate with Mohave County Human Resources Department to fill positions for
a short time each election year. All people hired will have to be hired as temporary employees of the
County. This group of people will have to meet all requirements for the position and must be able to pass
background checks costing the County$50.00 per person.The Human Resource Department will have to
dedicate a staff member to help fill these positions. Recruiting for these positions will be required
throughout 2024. Some people hired for one election may not return for other elections, requiring a
continuous hiring process to keep positions filled.
It takes current Mohave County Elections staff the entire year before an election to recruit up to 400
people to work at the voting polls for only one day. There is a large turnover, approximately one-third,
between General Election years requiring the department to continuously recruit new poll workers. Even
with these efforts,it is common for a poll site to be understaffed. Although it is helpful for political parties
to assist in recruiting poll workers a very small percentage of poll worker positions are filled in this manner.
It takes all the efforts of a full-time Elections staff member, with the help of part time election staff
members, to recruit the poll workers needed for a General Election cycle. Therefore, current full-time
staff members are unable to recruit and hire hand tally board members.
Once identified and hired,Mohave County Elections Department must train these new tally workers. The
training must take place prior to the elections and will be an added employee cost. The new tally workers
must commit the time(and travel)to attend and participate in the training.
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Security Guards:
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A minimum of two(2)security guards are needed to be present at the Fairgrounds at all times while hand
tallying is taking place. An additional security guard will be needed to transport ballots back and forth
between the Fairgrounds and the Elections Department.
(Approximately$26 per hour times 3 guards times 45 days(13 days after both the Primary
and PPE and 19 days after the General ) times 8 hours per day per guard. Total Cost:
$28,080.]
Transportation will be needed to transport personnel and ballots to and from the Fairgrounds.
Approximately$1,500.
Hand Tally Board Salary Cost for General Election
Starting the tally the day after the election:
Estimate for one 7-person tally board to tally 105,000 ballots
105,000 ballots times 3 minutes per ballot=315,000 minutes
315,000 minutes divided by 60 min per hour=5250 hours
5250 hours divided by 8 hours per day=657 days
Estimate of number of groups and number of people required to tally ballots before the General
Election canvass deadline,and salary calculation:
657 days divided by 19 days allowed for tallying=35 groups
35 groups times 7 people per group= 245 people
245 people times$14 per hour times 8 hours per day times 19 days=$521,360
Hand Tally Board Salary Cost for Primary Election
Starting the tally the day after the election:
Estimate for one 7-person tally board to tally 50,000 ballots(estimate of 2024 ballots to be cast)
50,000 ballots times 3 minutes per ballot= 150,000 minutes
150,000 minutes divided by 60 min per hour=2,500 hours
2,500 hours divided by 8 hours per day=313 days
Estimate of number of groups and number of people required to tally ballots before the Primary
Election canvass deadline,and salary calculation:
313 days divided by 13 days allowed for tallying=25 groups
25 groups times 7 people per group= 175 people
175 people times$14 per hour times 8 hours per day times 13 days=$254,800
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Whether talliers begin counting ballots as soon as they are received from the Recorder, approximately
one week after Early voting begins, or whether tallying begins the day after the election, staff estimates
that ballot tallier cost will be approximately the same amount.Total per person hours will be the same.
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Hand Tally Board for Presidential Preference Election
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If both the Republican and Democratic parties participate in the 2024 Presidential Preference Election,
staff estimates that there would be approximately 40,000 ballots cast. The cost to tally these ballots
would be much less than the cost to tally the ballots for either the Primary or General Election. The cost
is lower because only one race per party is tallied versus the 30 or more races that will be tallied for the
Primary Election and General Election. There is no comparison of the processes needed to tally the
Presidential Preference Election versus the Primary and General Election. Therefore, we will not submit
a cost estimate for hand tally board members for the Presidential Preference Election.
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Automatic Recounts
Recent legislative changes prior to the 2022 General election cycle have made it much more likely that
recounts of races will occur. [A.R.S.§16-661).
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If a recount is ordered by the court every ballot will have to be retallied for all races so ordered by the I
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court.
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s For the General Election recount,thirty-five (35) people will be hired as recount hand talliers. Seven (7)
people are required for each tally board. To retally 105,000 ballots it will take 210 hours at 500 ballots
per hour for one group to complete the recount within five days.
[Approximately $14 per hour times 35 people times 5 days times 8 hours per day per k
person. Total Cost:$19,600.1
For the Primary Election recount,twenty-one(21) people will be hired as recount hand talliers. Seven(7)
people are required for each tally board. To retally 50,000 ballots it will take 100 hours at 500 ballots per
hour for one group to complete the recount within five days.
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[Approximately $14 per hour times 21 people times 5 days times 8 hours per day per
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person. Total Cost: $11,760.]
The current Elections staff, consisting of four (4) people, using the ballot tabulators could recount all
ballots for the General Election in four days incurring de minimis expense to the County.
Estimate of Additional Cost for all Three Elections
Fairgrounds Camera/Security System Installation Cost $100,000
New Full-time Elections Staff Member $75,000 G
Three Security Guards $28,080
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Six Part-time Elections Staff Members at Tally Site $30,240
Two Additional Early Board Part-time Elections Staff Members $16,800
Hand Tally Board Members General Election $521,360
Hand Tally Board Members Primary Election $254,800
Board Members Presidential Preference Election Not calculated
Background Checks-Approximately$50 per check(500) $25,000
Write-In Boards General Election(3 persons per boards[§16-531] $38,304
Write-In Boards Primary Election (3 persons per boards[§16-531] $17,402
Transportation for ballots and personnel $1,500 i
Total Additional Estimated Cost to Hand Tally Three 2024 Elections $1,108,486
Estimate of Recount Cost if Required
Recount General Election $19,600
Recount Primary Election $11,760
These are the costs that are identified at this time.Other costs may be identified as the process proceeds.
CONCLUSION:
{ To successfully hand count the 2024 Primary and General Elections, the following additional steps must
take place:
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1. Hire new full and part-time staff necessary to recruit,observe,and train tally workers;
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2. Recruit and hire a minimum of 245 tally workers to count ballots;
3. Recruit and hire a minimum of 30 people for Write-in board members for the Primary and
General Elections;
4. Recruit and hire a minimum of 56 people for Recount board members for Primary and General
Elections.
S. Prepare and secure the Mohave County Fairgrounds for the counting of ballots;
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6. Secure the vehicles necessary to transport ballots between the Fairgrounds and the Elections
{ Department;
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7. Acquire a minimum of three security guards to ensure the security of the election;
8. Train tally workers prior to each election; {
9. Procure video equipment to be used during the counting of ballots;and
10. Allocate approximately$1,108,486, plus recount cost$31,360 as outlined above to conduct the
hand counts.
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ADJUDICATION!DUPLICATION-VOTER INTENT EXAMPLES =Vote Given
a
CANDIDATE 1 O CANDIDATEI 1 � IDATE 1 O CANDIDATE 1 + CANDIDATE 1
3
Q CANDIDATE 2 + CANDIDATE 2 CANDIDATE 2 O DOATE 2 DATE 2
O O O O O
4w • CANDIDATE 1 CANDIDATE 1 ' —CA OW bAg.3 MIKATki
CANDIDATE 2 CANDIDATE 2 C2! Ve 2 + °�� CANDIDATE 2 £;
Q 1� Eligible Write-ln Q
`�C=VATE 1 CANDIDATE 1 r CANDIDATE 1 O CANDIDATE 1
CANDIDATE 2 + CIstakQATE 2 X CANDIDATE 2 O CANDIDATE 2 + CANDIDATE 2
O O O O O
CANDIDATE 1 O CANDIDATE 1 O CAND 1 } Q CAND 1 (REP) CANDIDATE 1
40 CANDIDATE 2 40 CANDIDATE 2 O CAND 2 (DEI) O CAND 2 (®1 Q CANDIDATE 2
Cancklme O O O O Write4r,'
ADJUDICATION!DUPLICATION-VOTER INTENT EXAMPLES
4W CANDIDATE 1 CANDIDATE 1 Q CANDIDATE 1 CANDIDATE 1 7CANDNIDATE2
4110 CANDIDATE 2 CANDIDATE 2 CDCANDIDATE 2 CDCANDIDATE 2
Q Write-In CDEtigble Write-in O
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O CANDIDATE 1 CANDIDATE 1 O CANDIDATE 1 CANDIDATE 1 VOTER MARKED AN')-
O CANDIDATE 2 O CANDIDATE 2 O CANDIDATE 2 O CANDIDATE 2 OVER ENTIRE BALLOT
Imiotge Write-In Inftl*Wrie-In mmspaw b Misspelledewe INK MAY HAVE HIT A
TAROET...AJQ+DUP ZERO
VOTES
Exhibit A
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Chairman Lingenfelter stated thank you. Questions for the Senator? Questions for Senator
Rodgers? Senator I have a couple of questions for you. I think the vote by mail thing was never
meant to be, that should be for people that just can't make it to the polls. t
'= Wendy Rodgers, Arizona State Senator stated agreed.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated and then the voter ID, common sense voting in my opinion is a
privilege of citizenship, and for that reason alone you should have to show your ID if you want to `
vote. I know that the legislature has taken some actions with regards to some of these things. But
what is the legislature doing right now, as far as continuing to push on decreasing or eliminating
as much as possible vote by mail, showing voter ID these types of things? And if you're getting
vetoed,what types of things can the legislature do? Because all of us at the county we are looking
to you as well as our pointy end of the sword, to escalate this stuff into the court system.
Wendy Rodgers,Arizona State Senator stated Mr. Chair, Supervisors,great question. Every single
election integrity bill that we have advanced through the legislature has been vetoed. Elections
have consequences,we have a one vote majority in despite that,we've been well lead,we've been
cohesive, we've been united, in fact I would argue that the state Legislature has been the adult in
the room in Arizona. But we've, you know had everything quashed by the Governor's office. So, z
we, and I get asked this a lot by my constituents, well Rodgers what are you doing? I mean well
everything is going to get vetoed. We still try, we still have hearings, we still get the data out into
the public domain as said in our elections committee,which has done yeoman work. So,we get it i
through the Senate, we get it through the House, we send it up to the Governor's office. Because
' that's what the voters sent us to the State Legislature to do,but again I harken back to the fact that
because there was so much corruption and so much pride in the Maricopa County run elections. t
We now have that person in the Governor's seat, and thats where we are. We continue to fight
every day we must fight,the day we stop fighting we lose,they want you to stop. We will not stop.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated I appreciate that. From my chair it looks like the state Legislature
needs to rain in Maricopa County because I think a lot of the people, both in the audience and
behind the dais here. Thinks there was some funny business that happened down in Maricopa
County and that's who you need to rein in. How do you rain it in?You know, I think eliminating
as much as you can,the vote by mail bologna,the voter ID stuff, and if the Governor's office isn't
going to work with you. Then how do you, how do you find a strategy to escalate it into the court
system? Mohave County I don't think is the problem. You know we are one of the brightest red
counties, hopefully still a red state. I've been a Republican since I was eighteen years old, card
' carrying and I'll, I love my party, I love the values. The fact that we don't stand on shifting sand,
and go don't with trends, that are just these days insane. We stand for something, and we stand for
the legacy that the people that went to war and shed blood, and the constitution we,that's a part of
who we are as conservative Republicans, we take it very seriously. But I don't think Mohave
County has ever had a problem. I mean we have done a stellar job here in Mohave County under
Allen over the past twenty-one years, our elections have been solid. I want to support you, this is `
just speaking with myself,we just got done with a discussion that shows next year we are going to
have an eighteen point eight-million-dollar deficit. And I don't know exactly how much it would
cost,you know it's easy to get up and say we are going to find volunteers and sure you'll get some
61
more volunteers. But really taking a hard look, a hard look at what exactly it would take as my
colleague stated. How many personnel would it require? What is the time period that those
personnel would be required? What's the cost? Because I don't think anybody here disputes it
would be a little bit more, I don't know how much more. Those are the types of things I am trying
to weight because I do think that you're right. I think I would agree with you that voting machines
are just an instrument to carry out an election, and the real thing that we are trying to solve here,
whether it be Arizona or some of the other states is voter trust. And a lot people don't trust those
machines. So, that's the real question how do we increase voter trust? a
Wendy Rodgers, Arizona State Senator stated Mr. Chairman, Supervisors. You brought up two
really interesting points. But for you a trust worthily straight up well-oiled machine, well run
county. That's why I am here today, because you are that. Because you are a reliable county,
because the rest of the state conceivably, arguably can look to you, because you are reliable. So, I
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am here to charge you humble Mohave County to lead the way. And secondly you asked, well G
how can you get counties Senator, state Legislature to do right if you can't get bills passed. There
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was the Senate Concurrent Resolution. Which was this little-known nuanced part of the State
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Constitution that gave us that opportunity, and it was Senator Borrelli's brainchild. And he would
come to me month after month and I would say, are we going to talk about this, and he would say =_
we are going to wait. We are going to wait to talk about it because it's a subtlety, it's a nuanced
way to get the will of the people through without requiring the imprimatur of the Governor. And
we did that, and so, you have this construct of a Senate Concurrent Resolution which is the old
Arizonans of days of yore, thought that up and put it into the state constitution. Little did they F
know that we would have this inflection point in history a hundred years later. Where that vehicle,
that construct, that little nuanced part of the state constitution could provide an opportunity to
reclaim the time, manner and place determination of the federal election. And I tell people every
day, you don't know what strand of yarn is going to unravel the skein, but that just maybe it.
Because I am a woman of faith and unless you keep trying everything you can an SCR here to
strike a bill here, to get rid of ERIC on another bill, I mean we are really trying. And you get all
the info, the data sets from the elections out into the public domain about all of the rapid clicking f
of the signature verifications, which of course was not humanly possible to do that quickly. All
these data points are coming to light because we keep persevering and so this where you come into
the drama.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated I've got a follow up question with what you just asked, and it's just
because I don't know.Until I received the letter, I was not aware of this little carve out in our State
Constitution, US Constitution '
Wendy Rodgers,Arizona State Senator stated well the SCR being in the State Constitution.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated State Constitution as well.
Wendy Rodgers, Arizona State Senator stated yes sir.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated so, being the case even if the Governor has vetoed what our
Legislature has approved and adopted, how is there not a process to escalate that into the court
system?
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Wendy Rodgers,Arizona State Senator stated well the SCR didn't require her input for the federal
election piece. But the state election piece was a Senate bill that she vetoed.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated yes, I would like to ask Senator Borrelli as well if he has a strategy
for escalating this into the court system?
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Wendy Rodgers, Arizona State Senator stated yes, sure.
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' Sonny Borrelli, Arizona State Senator stated well just use Cochise County as the example. They
ran out the clock, they prevented the County Board of Supervisors, their Elections Director, their
Recorder from doing their job. They sued them, so, I know we are not supposed to gamble here in
Arizona but I bet you a hundred bucks if you move to go with a one hundred percent hand count
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of all your precincts,which basically complies with this resolution, into a paper ballot hand count, 3
I bet you you're going to get sued, if they want to sue, fine. Bring it on, because I've got an army
behind be that is ready to fight. I hope that answers your question.
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Chairman Lingenfelter stated thank you Senator.
Sonny Borrelli, Arizona State Senator stated I don't want to go into much other strategy because I
like to let the enemy not see me coming.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated thank you Senator. Other questions or discussion from the Board
members.
Wendy Rodgers, Arizona State Senator stated oh and one other thing.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated Senator Rodgers.
Wendy Rodgers, Arizona Stated Senator stated Senator Borrelli spoke to the three branches of
government in a way. Of course, we know it's the executive, the judiciary and the legislative.
Guess which one is the strongest, the legislative. Why?Because we are so many cats that have to
be herded. But when we are united, we are the strongest. So, we stand with you.
Supervisor Gould stated Mr. Chairman.
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Chairman Lingenfelter stated Supervisor Gould
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Supervisor Gould stated I move that the Mohave County Board of Supervisors instruct our
Elections Director to form a plan to implement a hand count of the ballots of the 2024 election.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated you heard that motion and second do we have additional discussion?
Supervisor Johnson stated I have a question without cause, without anything.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated Supervisor Johnson.
Supervisor Johnson stated I thought I heard Supervisor Angius talk about bringing back some
information from the Election Director. You're talking about today to just start hand counting all
of our elections, is that right Supervisor Gould?
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Supervisor Gould stated Supervisor Johnson no, it was for him to form a plan to do it and bring
that plan back to us. 6
{ Supervisor Johnson stated can you read back the motion to me; it didn't sound that way to me
that's why I was confused.
Ginny Anderson, Clerk of the Board stated motion was to direct the Elections Director to form a
plan to hand count the 2024 election.
r,
Supervisor Johnson stated okay, and my question is Attorney that's not ordering that to be done,
that's just to coming back, is that the way you're reading it, or hearing it? {
Supervisor Gould stated I can amend it also.
Ryan Esplin, Chief Civil Deputy Attorney stated it would be best just to clarify it.
Supervisor Gould stated let's see. {
Supervisor Angius stated I retract my second.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated Supervisor Angius retracts her second to allow you to modify.
Supervisor Gould stated and return the plan to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated you heard that amended motion and second. Any other discussion?
Motion to direct the Elections Director to form a plan of a hand count of the ballots of the
2024 election and return the plan to the Board of Supervisors was made by Supervisor Gould
second Supervisor Angius. carried 4-1 with the following votes being recorded: Chairman
Lingenfelter voting yes, Supervisor Angius voting yes; Supervisor Johnson voting yes;
Supervisor Bishop voting no; and Supervisor Gould voting yes.
Chairman Lingenfelter stated thank you we are going to move up one additional thing. It's item
number 53 it's a public hearing.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
HILDY ANGIUS, MOHAVE COUNTY SUPERVISOR DISTRICT 2 AND
JEAN BISHOP,MOHAVE COUNTY SUPERVISOR DISTRICT 4:
53. Open Public Hearing: Discussion and possible action RE: DENY the adoption of BOS
Resolution No. 2023-063 — A REZONE of Assessor's Parcel No's 210-28-007, -008, and 210-
55-008 from an A-R(Agricultural Residential)zone to an R-E(Residential Recreation)zone to an
SD-C (Special Development/Commercial)zone to allow for an RV Park, Outdoor Concert Venue,
and RV Storage in the Golden Shores vicinity, Mohave County, Arizona. (This Resolution was
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LETTER FROM SENATOR SONNY BORRELLI,
ARIZONA SENATE MAJORITY LEADER
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SENATOR SONNY BORRELLI MAJORITY LEADER
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1700 WEST WASHINGTON,SUITE 212 t��� °y, SENATE COMMITTEES
s PHOENIX,ARIZONA 85007-2844 1"- o Joint Legislative Audit Committee
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CAPITOL PHONE(602)926.5051 Co-ChYlrtnan
TOLL FREE. 1.800-352-8404 is
sborrelli@azleg.gov Rules
Vice-Chaim►an
DISTRICT 30 .rizvna State Born to
Elections
Health and Human Services
Military Affairs, Public Safety, and
Border Security
May 22,2023
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Mohave County Board of Supervisors
700 W. Beale Street,
Kingman,AZ 86401
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Dear Chair Lingenfelter, s
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The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the latest update from the 561h Legislature, First Regular
Session on necessary national security measures. A press release issued by the office of the United States
Secretary of Homeland Security on January 17, 2017,clearly states the designation of election
infrastructure. Election infrastructure is critical infrastructure.The obvious reason for this is because 5
elections have a major impact on national security. It's vital that the State of Arizona complies with that
inherent intent from the federal government and works to ensure a system of cybersecurity and oversight
is established within every political subdivision. The passage of Senate Bill 1074(SB 1074)would have
fulfilled those requirements to protect critical infrastructure.
1
Unfortunately,the Governor chose to veto SB 1074.As a result,she's exposing our electronic voting
systems,which are made with components from countries considered adversaries to the U.S.,to attacks
and putting Arizona as well as the rest of the nation in an extremely vulnerable and dangerous position.
Accordingly,with the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 1037(SCR 1037)by the Legislature and 1
transmission to the Secretary of State on April 3, 2023, it is now incumbent upon the Legislature to
exercise our plenary authority. Enshrined in Article 1, Section 4,Clause I of the United States
Constitution, "times, places and manner" of conducting federal elections specifically conveys electronic #
x voting systems(manner)are not mandated in statute to be used as a primary method for counting,
tabulating or verification.
Therefore, be it resolved by the Fifty-Sixth Legislature,First Regular Session,no electronic voting
systems in the state of Arizona may be used as the primary method for conducting,counting,tabulating,
or verifying federal elections, unless those systems meet the requirements set forth in SCR 1037.
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Respectfully,
Senator Sonny Borrelli
Senate Majority Leader
Legislative District 30
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` MOHAVE COUNTY REQUEST FOR BOARD ACTION FORM
1
' FORMAL ACTION:
FROM: Travis Lingenfelter, Supervisor CONSENT ❑
,= CONTACT/EXT: Ext. 4722 RESOLUTION ❑
DATE: May 24, 2023 OTHER ❑
BOS MEETING DATE: June 5, 2023 INFORMATION ONLY ❑
SUMMARIZE THE ISSUE& DESIRED ACTION CLEARLY/ATTACH BACKUP MATERIAL:
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During the most recent legislative session, the legislature passed Senate Bill 1074, which stated that electronic P
l equipment may not be used as the primary method for tabulating votes for an election unless the equipment complies with
the following: (1)The electronic equipment meets or exceeds the standards set by the U.S. Dept. of Defense regarding
cybersecurity, (2)all parts of the electronic equipment are manufactured in the U.S., and (3)all source codes for the
r electronic equipment are submitted to and maintained on file by the Auditor General. Although passed by the legislature, s
Governor Hobbs vetoes SB 1074; therefore, it did not become law. 3
The Arizona legislature also passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 1037(SCR 1037), which is a concurrent resolution g
of the Arizona House and Senate supporting the manufacture of voting system components in the United States. The
resolution called for no voting system or component or subcomponent of a voting system or component, including
firmware software or hardware, assemblies and subassemblies with integrated circuits or on which any firmware or
software operates, may be used or purchased as the primary method for casting, recording and tabulating ballots used in
any election held in Arizona for federal office unless: (1)all components have been designed, manufactured, integrated
and assembled in the U.S. from trusted suppliers, using trusted processes, (2)the source code is made available to the
public, (3)the ballot images and system log files from each tabulator are recorded on a secure write-once, read-many i
media with clear chain of custody and posted on the Secretary of State's website within twenty-four hours after the close
of the polls. {
a On May 22, 2023 Senator Borrelli(District 30,AZ) provided an update to the Board regarding the veto of Senate Bill
1074 as well as the passage of SCR1037. r
'RECOMMENDED MOTION: For discussion and possible action: Receive legal advice and consider the County's
position regarding Senate Concurrent Resolution 1037, Senator Borrelli's May 22, 2023 letter about the Resolution, and {
the use of electronic voting systems or hand-counting in future elections for conducting, counting, and tabulating ballots I
F and certifying election results, and take any action the Board believes is necessary related to these items in upcoming
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elections.
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Reviewed and Approved By:
County Attorney Human Resources ❑ Finance ❑ County Manager
Board Action Taken:
Approved as Requested Q No Action Taken ❑ Disapproved 0
Continued to A proved with the following changes-�"
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it.e�un,n-t�(nA�' �2� m ar�ol
Acknowledged receipt and referred to:
rtA*1 � 13as 1nwV_Q-
Filing Information and Retrieval
Filed Bid Filed Agreement
BOS Resolution Filed Yearly Correspondence
Filed Petition Filed Dedication
Filed Land Sold Filed Land Acquired
Filed Franchise ID Resolution
Filed Improvement District Filed Other
Date Routed: 'A/ CS Reno x
AddftfonaI Info a o
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