Public raises election transparency and public-comment access; board approves school election IGAs and vote-center plan

A Cochise County resident raised concerns during public comment on July 22 about an executive session the county held regarding voting equipment and asked the board for greater transparency and more flexible speaker-request options. Allison Wirce told supervisors she understands personnel and legal matters sometimes require closed sessions but asked why discussions about voting equipment took place behind closed doors. She said she emailed County Attorney Lori Zuko with questions about the June 19 executive session and received no substantive response; she asked the board to post materials earlier and add a third option on speaker-request forms that would let people register their support or opposition to an agenda item without attending a meeting. Separately during the meeting the board approved intergovernmental agreements with Wilcox Unified School District and Naco Unified School District to provide election supplies and services for November ballots and authorized vote-center locations for the November election. Election staff confirmed the agreements include day-of vote centers. The board adopted Resolution 25-20 authorizing the vote-center schedule and allowing the election director to make substitutions in accordance with Arizona Revised Statutes. The transcript shows the board approved the school-district IGAs and the vote-center resolution by unanimous votes. The speaker's request about executive-session transparency and the speaker-form change was recorded in public comment; the board did not take an on-the-record motion to change the speaker-request form during the meeting.