Advocates urge San Luis council to press county for proof and expand early voting access
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Summary
At public comment, Antonio Ramirez of Rural Arizona Action asked the council to seek documentation from the Yuma County recorder about camera requirements at early ballot drop boxes and proposed five steps to expand early voting access in San Luis.
Antonio Ramirez, political and policy director for Rural Arizona Action, told the San Luis City Council that he and partner organizations could not find a state statute or citation in the Arizona Election Procedures Manual to back the county recorder’s claim that cameras must be installed at every early ballot drop box or that the county recorder must control those cameras.
Ramirez asked the council to press the county recorder for documentary support for those assertions and to take five specific actions to improve voter access in San Luis: keep the early ballot drop box at the San Luis Library; add an additional drop box at the Cultural Center; add an in‑person early‑voting location in San Luis (he said only one exists in the county); add an additional voting center in the city; and implement a wait‑time reduction plan for the 2026 elections.
“We want to make it easier for people to vote, not harder,” Ramirez said. He described long lines in 2024 in Yuma County locations including San Luis, where he said seniors waited for hours and some voters left before casting ballots because they needed to feed their families or use the restroom. Ramirez said his organization has been unable to find a legal basis for the county recorder’s camera-control claim and urged the council to request documentation; if the recorder does not provide it, Ramirez asked the council to formally seek the five remedies he outlined.
The council did not take immediate formal action on Ramirez’s request during the open comment segment recorded in the transcript; council members asked Ramirez to provide written materials for staff review. The clerk read a summary of the open‑public‑comment rules under ARS section 38‑431.01 before Ramirez spoke; council members may ask staff to review matters raised during the public comment period or place items on a future agenda in accordance with that law.
Next steps were not recorded in the transcript: Ramirez said he would follow up and council members requested the information in writing so staff could evaluate whether to pursue the documentation or the changes he proposed.
