Cochise County supervisors unanimously canvass CD 7 special election, transmit results to Arizona secretary of state

The Cochise County Board of Supervisors on July 24 formally canvassed and accepted the results of the July 15, 2025 special election for congressional district 7 and voted to transmit the certification to the Arizona Secretary of State.

The motion to accept the election returns was made by Supervisor Gomez: "I move to accept the election results submitted by the Cochise County Elections Department as the official canvas for the special election held on 07/15/2025." The motion was seconded (second not specified on the record) and carried on a 3-0 voice vote: "Aye. Aye. Aye." The board instructed staff to transmit the canvass to the Arizona Secretary of State as the official certification step.

Elections Director Miss Savant presented a brief synopsis of the contest and post-election audits. She told the board that "On June 13, the state of Arizona came down with the logic and accuracy equipment certification, passed those results with 100% accuracy." She said county staff set up three vote centers on July 14 in Douglas, Bisbee and Palominas; on Election Day all centers opened at 6 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m. The first upload of election night results was at 8:03 p.m. on July 15, and the final upload that evening was at 8:45 p.m.

Miss Savant described the hand-count audit process: party chairs convened a random lot selection on July 16 to pick four audit areas, which included Vote Center 1 in Douglas (143 ballots) and a batch of early ballots (batch number 7, 82 ballots) and an additional batch (batch number 8). Twelve poll workers or audit members convened at the Elections Department on July 19 to conduct the hand count; the count began at 9 a.m. and ended at 10:15 a.m., and Miss Savant reported it was completed "with 100% accuracy." Final results were uploaded on July 21 at 9:10 a.m.

The elections director also said there were only minor issues on election day: "There was just a little small to complaints, just from signage in the Palominas District as well as here. So those are rectified very quickly." She told the board the office used two envelope openers for this election and that the county's "d s 9 fifties" machines are in the warehouse and are not expected to be utilized until the next year's election (as stated in the meeting).

Board members thanked the elections staff for their work during a short discussion that included a request to offer candidates an opportunity to preview ballots before future elections; Miss Savant said state candidates received an email notifying them where they could view the ballot and that committees may send representatives to preview ballots on a candidate's behalf.

The board's formal action completes the local certification step and sends the official canvass to the Arizona Secretary of State. The board adjourned and noted its next meeting would be July 31 at 10 a.m. in the Hearing Room to review the agenda items for the week of Aug. 4.