Cochise County gives some details on hand count; Katie Hobbs appears satisfied with plan

Cochise County officials Wednesday clarified their controversial plans for a hand count of the Nov. 8 election, providing assurances to Secretary of State Katie Hobbs that they will not do anything illegal.

The Board of Supervisors said they intend to hand count every ballot cast at the polls on Nov. 8, following their vote to take action earlier this week. This means the majority of ballots won't get a hand count, as most county voters cast their ballots by mail.

They notified Hobbs' office of their intentions in a letter signed by the two Republicans on the three-member board. Chairwoman Ann English, a Democrat, did not sign on as she has said a hand count is unnecessary.

Hobbs' office had given the board until 5 p.m. Wednesday to confirm they would not hand count every ballot cast in the election, noting there is no authority in state law to do so. That position was backed up by the board's own attorney as well as the state Legislative Council.

Hobbs appeared satisfied, posting a statement on social media that the supervisors told her they will not attempt to count every race on every ballot but instead will do a precinct hand count, as the law allows.

Hobbs also had told the county supervisors she had "serious concerns" about whether the county could pull off a more limited hand count, given they have provided no details and the election is two weeks away.

The board debated the letter's wording for more than a half hour, with Supervisor Tom Crosby suggesting a terse response that did not address the concerns raised by Hobbs.

‘We know we have a lot of work to do," Crosby said, reading from his draft. "If you care to assist, please contact County Recorder David Stevens and or Elections Director Lisa Marra. Best wishes."

But Supervisor Peggy Judd added language that said the county would do what is called an expanded precinct hand count and would follow all applicable laws.

“I just want to tell her we intend to do this lawfully," Judd said.

She added that she had sent Hobbs, with whom she served in the Legislature a decade ago, a thank you note for giving the county the chance to clarify its intent.

How we got here: Cochise County votes to require hand count of ballots

Why supervisors wanted hand count

The two supervisors said they are reacting to constituents who don't trust the election process. They want a check on the official machine count, much like state Senate Republicans who conducted their own review of Maricopa County's 2020 presidential results.

As that ballot review showed, and as election experts have said, hand counts are unreliable and subject to human error. But with Republicans stirring unfounded concerns about the reliability of tabulation machines, skepticism has grown about the official machine tallies.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Secretary of State nominee Mark Finchem filed a federal lawsuit earlier this year seeking a court order to ban the use of tabulation machines. They lost, but are appealing the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

While Crosby and Judd originally pushed for a hand count of every single item on every single ballot, attorneys at the state, legislative and local level repeatedly told them they don't have the legal authority to do that.

State law does not provide for a hand count of every single ballot cast. In 2018, the last mid-term election, 26% of the county's vote was cast at vote centers. In 2020, the number dropped to 20%, or 12,098 ballots.

Wednesday's meeting highlighted the tensions provoked by the protracted debate over a hand count. Crosby at one point said he would be comfortable not replying at all to Hobb's office, all but inviting a lawsuit.

In a later exchange, he read from advice he received from his attorney, Tim LaSota, advising that "Katie should read her Elections Procedures Manual." He also noted the jury verdict against the state Senate for job discrimination of an African American Democratic staffer, which happened when Hobbs was the Senate Democratic leader.

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What law allows for hand count

There are other guardrails in state election law on how such a hand count would proceed:

• A count can't start until the unofficial tally of ballots cast at the vote centers is made public.

• The count would involve four items on the ballot, not the full ballot, which has about 50 items. The count would review one federal race, one statewide race, one legislative race and one statewide ballot proposition. The ballot items are chosen by a random drawing done by the participating party political chairs in Cochise County.

• Registered voters — who take an oath to follow the law — must do the counting.

• None of the hand count board members could have appeared as candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

• The count must happen with enough time for the county to meet its deadline to submit election results for the statewide canvass, which happens on Dec. 5.

Judd said she was concerned about the cost of the hand count for county taxpayers, but added she was told the state Senate would help.

Senate President Karen Fann said no one had contacted her office and the Senate was not helping to cover the county's cost.

Judd later told The Republic that state Sens. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert and David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista had pointed her to money in the state budget set aside for election matters.

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Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cochise County explain plans for election hand count