The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has settled a lawsuit filed by state and county Republican officials over tests that ensure the accuracy of vote tabulators before elections.
The Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda filed a lawsuit against Maricopa County in July, claiming the county and secretary of state did not properly conduct tests of vote tabulation equipment as required by state law.
Every election, logic and accuracy testing is conducted with test ballots brought in by the secretary of state — a process the public can watch online or in person.
A settlement agreement signed on Aug. 12 only deals with one of those issues: claims by the Republican officials that the Secretary of State only tested Maricopa County’s “backup” machines.
“Previously, under former SoS Katie Hobbs and now Adrian Fontes, only backup tabulators were tested — leaving our elections vulnerable and raising serious transparency concerns,” the Republican Party of Arizona claimed in a statement posted to social media. “This wasn’t enough to ensure the integrity of our votes.”
According to the settlement, the county “shall provide only its tabulators and accessible voting devices that the [Maricopa County Board of Supervisors] intends to deploy to early voting locations and election day vote centers.”
In a statement, the Maricopa County Elections Department said the secretary of state had tested machines that were “not yet” assigned to a voting location when the test occurred, but that those machines could still be used on Election Day. According to the county, it also conducts its own tests of all tabulation equipment before every election in line with the Elections Procedures Manual, a rulebook of instructions for counties on administering elections.
"Maricopa County follows state and federal laws when administering elections and we do this with the help of many partners, including the political parties,” according to the statement. “Maricopa County Elections has always tested all tabulation equipment before every election.”
The county Elections Department indicated it settled the case in order to avoid prolonged litigation as the November general election approaches.
“With the general election less than three months away, this keeps the focus on making sure the election is administered fairly and with transparency and voters can trust that every legal ballot will be tabulated,” according to the statement. “As has been demonstrated by numerous lawsuits in the past several years, litigation is costly and is an unnecessary distraction during a time when the administration of an upcoming election must be the priority.”
Multiple lawsuits filed by candidates and other parties challenging the accuracy of Maricopa County’s election processes in the wake of the 2020 and 2022 elections have failed to provide proof that county did not follow state laws governing election administration.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to correct which officials filed the lawsuit.
