Deep-red Arizona county rejects proposal to hand-count ballots in 2024 elections

PHOENIX — A northwestern Arizona county has rejected a proposal to hand-count ballots within the 2024 election cycle after the native elections director warned that it might price greater than $1.1 million and contain hiring a whole bunch of latest employees.

The Mohave County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 on Tuesday towards adopting a hand depend, with supervisors Ron Gould and Hildy Angius voting in favor. Board Chair Travis Lingenfelter stated throughout the assembly that he couldn’t justify the steep prices of a hand depend due to Mohave County’s projected price range deficit.

“You possibly can’t speak about another spending when you’ve gotten 18 to twenty million {dollars} deficit,” he stated. “I imply, that’s irresponsible.”

Previous to the vote, Mohave County Elections Director Allen Tempert informed the board that hand counting ballots for upcoming elections would require hiring greater than 245 new employees and price about $1.1 million. Tempert additionally stated employees made errors throughout a take a look at hand depend of 850 ballots performed in June by his division.

“This job would simply be astronomical to attempt to put collectively all these individuals,” he stated.

Deputy County Lawyer Ryan Esplin additionally expressed issues in regards to the legality of a hand depend.

Mohave County is amongst different counties throughout the U.S. which have explored tabulating ballots by hand. Previous to the 2022 normal election, rural Cochise County in southeast Arizona pursued a hand depend earlier than it was stopped by a choose. An analogous effort in Nye County, Nevada, was additionally topic to litigation final yr.

Whereas there is no such thing as a proof of widespread voter fraud within the 2020 election, the prospect of hand counting ballots is in style amongst some elected officers, activists, and voters who mistrust U.S. elections and unfold conspiracies about election tools. Former President Donald Trump and his allies steadily assault voting tools with unsupported claims. Republican lawmakers in some states have additionally promoted laws mandating that ballots be counted by hand as an alternative of by digital tabulators.

“It’s being pushed all around the nation, largely in deeply crimson counties the place there are county boards who’re sympathetic to the lies being unfold,” David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Division legal professional and present government director of the Heart for Election Innovation and Analysis, stated earlier this yr.

Mohave County started exploring the notion of hand tabulations after receiving a letter in Might from Republican Arizona Senate Majority Chief Sonny Borrelli, who demanded that “no digital voting programs” be used as the first tabulators in federal elections, Lingenfelter stated.

Borrelli despatched an identical letters to different Arizona counties. In June, the board directed Tempert to give you a plan for hand-counting ballots within the 2024 election cycle, prompting Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to publicly assert that such a transfer would put Mohave County in “critical authorized jeopardy.”

Borrelli defended the proposal throughout Tuesday’s assembly as a “nationwide safety challenge.” Borrelli and a spokesperson for the Arizona Senate Republicans didn’t instantly reply Wednesday to a request for remark from The Related Press.

Lingenfelter informed the AP earlier than Tuesday’s vote {that a} hand depend can be worthwhile due to widespread mistrust of elections within the county, however he didn’t see an issue with the county’s elections tools. Registered Republican voters outnumber Democratic voters in Mohave County by almost 4 to 1.

Consultants say the proposal is a logistical quagmire and will undermine the accuracy of Mohave County’s elections. Analysis has proven that hand counts are much less dependable and take longer than machine tabulation.

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