PHOENIX — With so much disinformation still being circulated about Maricopa County election procedures and practices, county officials decided to hold another news conference this week on the subject.
County Recorder Stephen Richer, along with the county’s Board of Supervisors Chair Bill Gates and others, opined about the importance of election integrity, the importance of moving on after an election challenge and the strength of the county’s 2022 procedures.
Gates, a Republican, was asked if he was worried there will be many officials and other Arizona residents not accepting the outcome of the Nov. 8 election.
“Democracy is on the line,” Gates said. “I’m not so much worried as I am focused. I understand the importance of this issue. Have we ever done press conferences weeks in advance of the election? No. We’re doing this because we’re focused on this election. Worry would mean we’re not doing what we need to do. I’m not worried about this (election team).”
Gates made it clear he’s more concerned about rhetoric from former and current office holders and Republican Party outcry in the event of close GOP losses, rather than concern election procedures will be followed.
“I’m concerned about bad behavior. I’m concerned about people not acknowledging basic principles of morality and truth. That’s what’s broken down. Congressmen, governors, former presidents,” Gates said. “It’s not the constitution. It’s literally the trust that undergirds our system that is cracking — that’s what’s wrong.”
Richer and Scott Jarrett, the county’s director of election day and emergency voting, both have made numerous in-person, public meeting and online appearances in an attempt to look transparent and to clarify procedures and protocol. Among the many points Richer has emphasized repeatedly, including on Wednesday, is that both Democrat and Republican observers have long been able to view much of the ballot processes.
Richer also made a point of reiterating that all votes belong to specific voters, using multiple methods to verify each voter is a real person, alive and living where they say they live, at the time of voting.
“We only assign tabulated votes to registered voters,” Richer said. “To be a registered voter, you must live in the county at a physical address, as verified through our GIS team and either the Motor Vehicle Division or the Social Security Administration. If a voter registration ID card is returned as undeliverable, we can’t put you on the registration rolls.”
Richer said if, for example, a plane was flown in from South Korea, even if 20,000 ballots from that plane were successfully injected into the county’s flow of ballots to be tabulated, the county wouldn’t simply count loose ballots.
“Every ballot has to be in our green, bar-coded envelopes that we scan, with a signature that matches what’s on file,” he said.
Gates said county administrators always ask election frontline staff and volunteers for feedback on ways to improve procedures in the next cycle.
He seems prepared and expects fellow Republicans to cry foul if their candidates don’t win what are expected to be very close statewide races.
“If we can work together and make these election systems even better, we’ll be in good shape,” Gates said. “But if there are some people who refuse to accept these results, I would say their fellow party members, fellow Arizonans, need to stand up and say ‘This election’s over. You’ve had your challenges and audits. Recognize it.’ We need to be self-governing and right now we’re not doing a very good job of it.”
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
By 
