Arizona task force made no mention of Katie Hobbs interfering in election | Fact check

Andre Byik, USA TODAY
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The claim: Arizona task force found Gov. Katie Hobbs interfered in 2022 election as secretary of state

A Nov. 12 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) includes a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter, making allegations about the top elected official in Arizona.

"BREAKING: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ Election Task Force concluded that then-Secretary of State Hobbs engaged in election interference in 2022 by preventing Arizonans from voting while running her own election for governor," the Nov. 11 X post reads.

The original X post from the right-wing website Leading Report was liked more than 25,000 times in nine days.

More from the USA TODAY Fact-Check Team:

Our rating: False

The Governor's Bipartisan Elections Task Force did not find Arizona Gov. Katies Hobbs prevented Arizonans from voting. In its final report on Nov. 1, 2023, the task force delivered policy recommendations meant to improve the state's elections.

Hobbs created task force to examine Arizona election policies, procedures

While the task force identified problems with Arizona's election system, it did not find Hobbs, a Democrat, engaged in election interference in 2022 when she was secretary of state and a gubernatorial candidate.

"There is absolutely no truth to the tweet," Christian Slater, a spokesman for the governor, said in an email. "In fact, the governor's office released the findings of the task force."

Hobbs created and chaired the task force through an executive order issued Jan. 6, 2023. It was established to "study and make recommendations to strengthen election laws, policies and procedures in the State of Arizona," the order said.

In its final report, the 18-member task force detailed 16 proposals in the areas of election administration, voter registration, early voting, counting procedures, election equipment and security.

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The report's conclusion made no mention of election interference by Hobbs. It says the included recommendations were "designed to achieve the goal of making common-sense improvements to Arizona's elections."

For example, the task force examined how public and private employers can incentivize employees to work as poll workers. It also recommended clarifying laws about interfering with voters who use ballot drop boxes. On Nov. 2, Hobbs announced $2.3 million in coronavirus relief funding would go toward changes recommended by the task force, the Arizona Republic reported.

Hobbs defeated Republican Kari Lake in the state's 2022 gubernatorial election by 17,000 votes. USA TODAY has debunked other claims about Arizona's elections, including that nearly 250,000 voting attempts failed in the 2022 midterms.

The Instagram user who shared the X post and the X user who created the original post did not respond to requests for comment.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Arizona elections task force found Hobbs interfered | Fact check