Cochise County can't hand count all ballots, judge rules. Smaller effort allowed by law

Cochise County can't hand count all of its ballots after the election as planned, a judge said Monday, days after an all-day hearing on the controversial effort Nov. 4.

The decision likely will face an appeal as Election Day approaches, with the county recorder telling the court he already has begun preparations to train volunteers and eventually take custody of the ballots after the election. Cochise County Recorder David Stevens planned to move them to a yet undisclosed site in Sierra Vista for a recount.

Two Republican county supervisors proposed the full hand count to verify tabulation machines, despite threats of litigation.

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After the plan was put in motion, the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and a voter from the county sued, asking the court to stop the full hand count and calling it "unlawful, chaotic, time consuming and unnecessary."

The judge in the case ruled that supervisors went too far in plans for a hand count of every ballot.

On Monday, Saundra Cole, president of the Arizona chapter of the group, said the ruling affirms the rule of law. It comes at a time when there are attempts to cast doubt on elections.

“This ruling is a big win for all voters in Cochise County, particularly older voters who are more likely to vote early in Arizona," Cole said in a statement.

The retiree group had argued the full hand count would delay counting approximately 40,000 ballots in the county, and in turn could delay the state's official election certification.

Election 2022 in Arizona: Judge bars full hand count of Cochise County ballots

The Arizona Secretary of State's Office also applauded the ruling as a win for voters.

"Drastic changes to election processes, especially during an election, would create chaos and confusion," Allie Bones, the deputy secretary of state said in a statement. The secretary's office had filed a friend of the court brief and for the last month has argued that a full hand count is not allowed by law.

County officials were divided over the issue. Those who supported the hand count said it would ease voter fears that tabulation machines are not accurate and elections are not fair.

The county elections director testified that such a count would violate the law. The judge concurred.

Judge: Smaller hand count allowed

"There is no evidence before this court that electronic tabulation is inaccurate in the first instance, or more importantly, that the audit system established by law is insufficient to detect any inaccuracy it may possess," Judge Casey McGinley wrote in an order issued late Monday.

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The Pima County judge oversaw the case as Cochise County requested a judge from outside the county.

McGinley said state law and the Elections Procedures Manual drafted by the secretary of state and approved by the governor and attorney general explain how to conduct hand counts after elections, and they do not allow for a 100% hand count at the discretion of county officials.

State law directs a small number of ballots cast in precincts and a fraction of mail-in ballots to get counted by hand, and for additional hand counting only when significant discrepancies are found, the judge wrote.

The last Elections Procedures Manual certified in the state was in 2019, and a sentence in that document that states counties can count a larger number of ballots "at their discretion" was debated in court at length.

McGinley said the statement conflicts with an additional requirement that counties select ballots to recount "randomly," which can't happen if all ballots are selected to recount.

He ordered the county to comply with the law when conducting its recounts and enjoined, or prohibited, the county's order for a full hand recount.

This is the third election-related lawsuit the alliance has filed, and won, in Arizona. Earlier, a federal judge imposed restrictions on groups that were stationed outside ballot drop boxes in Maricopa and Yavapai counties.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona judge blocks full hand recount in Cochise County election