County election officials are asking Arizona lawmakers to change state law in a special session to prevent them from missing ironclad election administration deadlines or disenfranchising overseas voters.
A 2022 law raised the margin of victory in elections that requires an automatic recount. County officials warn the time needed to conduct additional recounts triggered by that law could create delays that cause them to miss important federally imposed election deadlines. National Guard Association of Arizona Executive Director Col. Paul Aguirre issued a statement with his concerns that overseas service members won’t be able to vote if they don’t make a change.
“We’re asking the state Legislature to set aside partisan politics to accommodate the 800 soldiers and airmen from the National Guard who will be voting in this manner,” Aguirre said. “I know in my heart of hearts that the citizens of Arizona know the value of the National Guard and we would like that the Legislature would consider this and allow all of the members of the Arizona National Guard for their votes to count,” he said.
Jen Marson is the director of the Arizona Association of Counties. She says the number of overseas service members, known as UOCAVA voters, is close to 12,000, including National Guard members.
Marson is working with lawmakers on a solution. She said the counties need 19 more days between the primary and the general to ensure that all registered voters get the correct ballots in the event of a recount.
“So, right now the solutions that are being contemplated all have to do with condensing the existing election calendar to essentially make mostly the counties, but a little bit the Secretary of State, work faster,” she said.
The elections calendar includes a range of deadlines, some of which are state imposed and open to change.
“For example, instead of having five days for candidates to proof the ballot and make sure we've spelled their name correctly; we're going to give them two days. So, now, we don't have to wait five days. We only have to wait two days and we just saved three days,” Marson said.
Under one proposed plan, the primary elections would be moved up by a week and the recount law would still be implemented, but the federal deadlines wouldn’t be violated.
Considering that the legislative sessions typically last well into the summer — and laws don’t go into effect until 90 days after the end of the session — lawmakers need to take a quicker approach to this issue to avoid negatively affecting this year’s primary election.
Addressing the problem in a special session is something the counties have been asking for since last year. It would mean the legislature convening on one particular issue for an unspecified amount of time.
Gov. Katie Hobbs told reporters on Jan. 10 that she’ll call the special session if necessary.
