Republicans threaten suit over what they call illegal provisions of AZ Elections Procedures Manual

Prominent Arizona Republicans are threatening to sue Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes over allegedly illegal provisions in an election guidelines draft manual.

Each election year, the secretary of state crafts a new rulebook for county election workers called the Elections Procedures Manual. It’s been a point of friction between Fontes and Republicans.

Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) and House Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-Goodyear) claim provisions in this year’s draft, which was released in the first week of August, conflicts with state law.

“Mr. Fontes has a disturbing trend of skirting the law. If he wants to change the law, he should run for Legislature instead of being the secretary of state,” Petersen said.

Fontes’ spokesman Aaron Thacker said Petersen is engaging prematurely in “political theater.”

“We just closed on the public comment period on Sunday, and on Tuesday we’re getting the threat, so I’m not really sure what the threat is about when the product isn't even done,” Thacker said. “It's their prerogative to make criticisms, but the reality is that it’s a little early.”

Petersen and Montenegro submitted a joint letter in public comment.

One point of contention is over potential non-citizen registrations. In the draft rulebook, if database records flag a voter as a potential non-citizen because they need to provide documentary proof of citizenship, the guidelines instruct election workers to notify the voter and ask them to provide that documentation in a certain time frame.

But Petersen and Montenegro argue that in those cases, county recorders are required by law to “summarily reject the application” and refer the matter for investigation by law enforcement.

In a similar vein, the draft rulebook states that recorders should contact voters registering with the state registration form who don’t provide documentary proof of citizenship to ask for it, but the lawmakers say state law dictates that the recorders must simply reject those forms.

The Secretary of State’s Office is now reviewing public comments. A draft of the rulebook will go to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes by Oct. 1.

The deadline for the officials to approve the rulebook is Dec. 31.