UPDATE 2:01 p.m.
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. to discuss action related to the direction provided by Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.
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In a special session Monday afternoon, Oct. 24, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors rejected an order to hand count all ballots, butdid approve a hand count audit of all county precincts.
Last week Secretary of State Katie Hobbs warned County officials that the full hand count would be "illegal" and her office would take legal action if they moved forward.
Today, Hobbs tweeted that "the Cochise BOS made the correct decision to reject a full hand count of all ballots," but says there is still a legal grey area in the measure the board did approve.
Hobbs says Cochise County will need to see that the hand count audit would need to be brought into full legal compliance by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 26.
The Cochise BOS made the correct decision to reject a full hand count of all ballots. There are still serious questions about the agenda item they did approve. If they don’t provide assurances they’ll proceed in compliance w/ the law by 5pm, we’ll see them in court. pic.twitter.com/3CUZJUH7cF
— Secretary Katie Hobbs (@SecretaryHobbs) October 25, 2022
The full text of the agenda item approved on Monday reads:
Pursuant to ARS 16-602 B; the County Recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall take such action necessary to perform a hand count audit of all County precincts for the 2022 General Election to assure agreement with the voting machine count. Such audit shall be completed prior to the canvass of general election results by the Board of Supervisors.
According to background on the item, county officials say "it will provide proof of concept for emergency back-up if the voting machine(s) failed in the future. Such audit will be completed prior to final certification of 2022 general election canvass by the Board of Supervisors."
Both Hobbs and the Cochise County Attorney have expressed concern over this item's legality, which, according to Hobbs' latest letter, lacks details for the count's methods that would bring it into compliance with the 2019 Election Procedures Manual.
The letter from Hobbs' office lays out direction for the County to follow as it implements the hand count audit, including which ballots are allowed to be hand-audited, when the hand count audit can begin, and which ballot contests can be audited:
- Individual vote centers must be considered precincts for audit purposes
- Only in-person ballots cast at vote centers can be audited
- The hand count audit cannot begin "until all ballots voted in the precinct polling places have been delivered to the central counting center"
- The audit is limited to four contested races that must be selected by participating county political party chairpersons
- Representatives of the political parties must conduct the hand audit, but no more than 75% of the auditors can be from the same political party
- Precinct hand count board members must be registered Arizona voters, and cannot be candidates in the election
- The count must be completed prior to the county's canvass deadline
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Anne Simmons is the digital executive producer for KGUN 9. Anne got her start in television while still a student at the University of Arizona. Before joining KGUN, she managed multiple public access television stations in the Bay Area and has worked as a video producer in the non-profit sector. Share your story ideas and important issues with Anne by emailing anne.simmons@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.