Recorder updates board on elections manual process, early-ballot rules and voter outreach

Dana Lewis, Pinal County recorder, told the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday that counties are working with the Arizona Secretary of State’s office on proposed revisions to the Elections Procedure Manual (EPM) and outlined a timeline that would include a public comment period in August and a final submittal to the governor and attorney general in October.

Lewis said the Secretary of State will circulate chapters to counties on the second Tuesday of each month, counties must return comments by 1 p.m. the third Tuesday, and monthly county meetings to discuss the chapters will occur on the fourth Tuesday. The recorder identified early chapters under review as voting equipment (Chapter 4), accommodations for voters with disabilities (Chapter 5) and petition circulators (Chapter 6); March topics will include pre-election procedures and conduct of elections.

On legislation, Lewis summarized county and association positions developed through the Arizona Counties Officials (AECO) and County Supervisors Association (CSA) policy committees and noted a busy legislative session with more than 1,800 bills introduced. She said counties categorize bills as “support,” “oppose” or “neutral” and that many bills under review are technical clarifications, appropriations or concerns about unfunded mandates.

Lewis also described local election-practice work: the county’s Voter Education Working Group meets monthly and will present a demonstration of how ballots that cannot be tabulated (damaged, overvotes or stray marks) are duplicated and adjudicated using express-vote and electronic adjudication tools. That session is scheduled for Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. at the Elections facility; Lewis said the demonstration will be recorded and posted on the county website.

She described efforts to address the “late early ballot” problem and clarified that certain reporting in the press had misstated the intent of proposed changes: a draft provision that urges returning ballots to county recorders by the Friday before an election was intended to encourage voters to bring ballots directly to recorder offices if they still have them that week, not to invalidate ballots in voters’ hands.

Supervisors asked about the use of schools as polling locations, voter-registration deadlines and the timing of early voting. Lewis said counties support using schools as polling sites but want student and staff safety preserved and noted that changes to early voting timing could complicate voter-registration processing because the registration deadline occurs 29 days before an election.

Lewis encouraged public participation in planned voter-education sessions and listed upcoming outreach events that include Lost Dutchman Days (Feb. 28–March 2), Coolidge Cotton Days (March 14–16) and the Pinal County Fair. She said precinct splits or re-precincting to address population growth are under consideration and that staff will present findings at the March 13 work session.

No board vote was required on the election updates; supervisors thanked Lewis and asked staff to keep the board informed as the EPM review and any legislative actions proceed.