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Residents defend vote centers, oppose precinct hand counts and immunity bill at Cochise County meeting
Summary
Four Cochise County residents told the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 11 they trust the county's current vote-center system and warned against returning to precinct-based voting, mandatory hand counts and a proposed bill that would let supervisors refuse to certify elections.
Four Cochise County residents urged supervisors on Feb. 11 to keep the county's current vote-center and mail-ballot system and warned against proposed state legislation they said would undermine elections.
Tricia Jardette, a Sierra Vista resident, told the board the county has "a good election department and system," adding, "We've had some glitches, but they've all been solvable and I think our results are trustworthy." Jardette said a return to precinct-based voting would be costly and difficult to staff compared with the county's existing vote centers.
Lisonbee Morris, a registered voter who identified herself as not representing a political party, said she has observed election procedures and defended the accuracy of machine tabulators. "First, as a reminder, there has never been a problem with counterfeit ballots in Arizona," Morris said. She described hand counts as "tedious, time consuming, and error prone" and noted that state law requires manual verification steps in addition to machine counts.
Tamara Burch, a Bisbee voter, opposed what she identified as House Bill 2440, saying it would "give[] [the] Cochise County Board of Supervisors members immunity and the ability to refuse to certify the results of our elections," and called the measure unconstitutional and a disenfranchisement risk. Burch said she favors keeping the county's vote centers and preserving mail ballots, which she said more than 80% of Arizonans use.
Radford Hyde, who described himself as a cybersecurity professional, urged a settlement in an ongoing election-related legal case and argued against relying solely on the private voting-system vendor ES&S. "There's no way to verify the software on the machines," Hyde said, adding, "All these people that are claiming that it's safe...they have no credibility. Take it from someone who has credibility. These things need to go." Hyde also voiced support for a paper-ballot hand count and precinct-based voting.
The speakers addressed the board during the meeting's public-comment period. The supervisors did not take immediate action on any of the election-related topics raised by speakers during the Feb. 11 meeting.
The board moved on afterward to routine agenda items, including a consent agenda and several staff recommendations.
