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Cochise County supervisors meet in closed session to discuss voting-machine accreditation and legal compliance
Summary
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting June 19 in Bisbee and voted unanimously to enter executive session to discuss the accreditation status and legal compliance of voting machines for upcoming elections; the discussion and minutes were ordered confidential under state law.
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors convened a special meeting on Thursday, June 19, in the Supervisor's Executive Conference Room in Bisbee and unanimously voted to enter an executive session to discuss the accreditation status and legal compliance of voting machines intended for use in upcoming elections.
The board moved into executive session under Arizona statute language cited during the meeting. A board member said, “I move we go into executive session as authorized under ARS 38 4 31.03, subsection a 3, for discussion and possible direction regarding the accreditation status and legal compliance of voting machines intended for use in upcoming elections.” The motion was seconded, the board voted in favor, and the meeting proceeded behind closed doors.
The clerk noted that “minutes and discussions in executive session shall be kept confidential” pursuant to the statute referenced during the meeting. Supervisors confirmed they would attend in person, and members of the public were told they could join via Microsoft Teams or the mobile app for the open portions of the meeting. The public portion of the session began at approximately 10:03 a.m., and the board reconvened in public at about 11:26 a.m., when the chair announced the executive session had been completed and then adjourned the special meeting.
No substantive details of the executive-session discussion were disclosed in the public portion of the meeting. The board did not take any additional public action on the record following the closed session.
Attendance and roles noted on the record included Supervisors Rosby (District 1), Gomez (District 2) and Antonari (District 3); Elections Director Melissa Avant; County Attorney Zuko (present via Teams); Deputy Civil Attorney Whitehead; and staff members referenced as Paul Kray, Mr. Cloud (recorder), Sharon Gilman, Joe Casey, Laura Lohlen and Renteria. The meeting agenda listed a single item: consideration of the executive session on voting-machine accreditation and legal compliance.
Because the board cited state statute in moving to an executive session and explicitly stated that the executive-session discussions and minutes are confidential, the county did not release the substance of the discussion or any direction provided during the closed meeting.
