Pinal Elections Certified, Pima has a mess

SBINSIDER REPORTING| November 23rd, 2024

Recorder\Elections Director Dana Lewis delivered her report to the Board of Supervisors at its November 21st meeting. Lewis went into exquisite detail about the process and the board, after a few questions, unanimously passed its certification which is sent to the Arizona Secretary of State as final. The vote is a formality because state law requires the Board to do it.

However, in 2022, two members of the Cochise county board refused to certify their elections and were charged by Arizona Attorney General for election interference. One plead guilty and is leaving office in January, while the other is taking his case to trial.  Click here to read that story in full. 

The Pinal election process was greatly aided by the building of a new elections facility to meet current and future needs. The Board put a rush on the building after the 2022 primary and general elections had problems that made national news. Too, Dana Lewis was selected as elections director after several others quit.

Pima County Mess

While Pinal had a smooth election, new elections director, Constance Hargrove, had problems with the wrong candidates in the July primary, and then the Recorder shut down early ballot requests before the legal deadline, leaving many voters in the lurch and having to call or physically visit a county office to register for an early ballot. The excuse given by the Recorder, Gabriel Cázares-Kelly gave to the media for this action was that the website was overwhelmed and they could not process the volume. The Pima Board asked her to testify at their meeting after the election and one board member (the only Republican) called for an investigation but the rest of the board said no. Unless the Arizona AG gets involved, which is highly unlikely due to party politics, that is likely the end of the matter.