Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes expects to finish the state’s Election Procedures Handbook by the tip of the month, though there are nonetheless some authorized wrinkles to type out.

“The EPM is basically the Holy Bible for election directors in our 15 counties,” Fontes stated. “It has the power and impact of legislation. And it’s a plain language model of the statutes that dictate how our elections are to be run.”

These statutes aren’t all the time clear, stated Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, so it’s useful to have a guidebook when odd conditions come up, equivalent to a voter who travels loads however considers Pima County house and desires to forged a poll right here.

The handbook, she stated, “seeks to remove the assorted interpretations to guarantee that all 15 counties are complying with the state legislation and doing it in a manner that’s uniform in order that as a lot of our Arizona voters who forged a poll are capable of have their vote counted.”

Fontes stated he started work on the brand new Election Procedures Handbook about six months in the past and has held common conferences with county recorders and different election directors throughout Arizona to collect suggestions.

The handbook has not been up to date since 2019. Though a 2021 model was drawn up by Democrat Katie Hobbs, who was then secretary of state however now serves as governor, then-Gov. Doug Ducey and then-Legal professional Normal Mark Brnovich (each Republicans) refused to approve it.

However with Hobbs now governor and Democrat Kris Mayes serving as lawyer normal, there’s prone to be much less political gamesmanship within the formal approval that may implement the updates.

Each side of the political aisle had bones to choose with the Election Procedures Handbook draft that Fontes launched for public remark final month.

A dozen teams that advocate for voting rights — together with All Voting Arizona, ACLU Arizona, Mi Familia Vota, Progress Arizona, Rural Arizona Community and the Sierra Membership — requested Fontes to contemplate 15 key areas for revision, saying he ought to create necessities for county election officers to seek the advice of with tribal governments, arrange voting facilities, present entry to voting for jailed residents and guarantee entry to voting for individuals with disabilities, amongst different issues.

“Officers can administer elections effectively with clear steering if the above suggestions are adopted and carried out, finally benefiting voters,” the signatories wrote.

In the meantime, Republican lawmakers despatched a nine-page letter expressing quite a lot of issues, together with allowing the usage of poll drop containers, the usage of signatures to confirm whether or not a poll is legitimate, restrictions to forestall the harassment of voters and a provision that prohibits a hand rely of all ballots.

The GOP leaders additionally need to see early enforcement of a brand new state legislation requiring voters to be stricken from the Energetic Early Voter Listing—a bunch of voters who routinely get their ballots within the mail—in the event that they don’t forged ballots in two consecutive elections. Within the draft, Fontes stated the primary two election cycles to be thought-about could be 2024 and 2026, whereas the lawmakers need to use the election years of 2022 and 2024, eradicating individuals from the checklist sooner.

“As you already know, the Arizona Supreme Court docket has on a number of events admonished that the secretary could not, beneath the EPM’s auspices, act as a roving arbiter of all aspects of the electoral course of or arrogate the completely judicial energy of decoding controlling legal guidelines,” wrote Home Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Peterson.

Fontes stated he’s been reviewing these issues and assembly with lawmakers on each side of the aisle. He stated he mentioned the proposal with representatives from the Democratic and Republicans earlier this week.

“We have given loads of alternatives for all sides to return in and discuss issues,” Fontes stated. “And in each assembly, we’ve got strong enter, and generally we agree, and generally we disagree. I agreed with the Republicans on one or two factors, and I disagreed with the Democrats on one or two factors, as a result of I am taking essentially the most even handed, most voter-centric method.”

One of many largest challenges in crafting the brand new EPM is resolving a battle between state legislation and federal legislation. Federal legislation limits what states can require residents to supply so as to register to vote, however Gov. Doug Ducey signed a 2022 legislation that requires the voter to supply documented proof of citizenship. Any county recorder who registered a voter who didn’t present documented proof of citizenship could be committing a category 6 felony.

That legislation is now being challenged in federal courtroom by Mi Familia Vota.

“I joke with the county recorders that if I gave them an official opinion on what I assumed they need to truly do, I might both be recommending that they go to state jail or federal jail, as a result of violating the statutes is against the law,” Fontes stated. “That is clearly stated tongue in cheek. However there’s a clear battle that we’re hoping the courts will resolve quickly.”

One in all Fontes’ marketing campaign guarantees was to “simplify” the EPM. The draft is 268 pages — down from the 544 pages of the 2019 handbook. The Secretary of State’s Workplace has put out a four-page define of essentially the most substantive modifications.

‘Foolish’ signature challenge

Within the draft, Fontes retained a provision that enables county recorders to make use of numerous public information at their disposal to find out if a signature on a vote-by-mail poll is that of the voter. Underneath Arizona legislation, those that vote early should signal their poll and the signature is reviewed by election staff to make sure it matches a signature on file.

Republican politicians and voters, equivalent to defeated GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, have advised that election staff permit ballots with fraudulent signatures to move muster, alleging, with out proof, {that a} large effort has been underway to forged false ballots utilizing falsified signatures.

Fontes expressed skepticism that such an effort to rig elections was underway.

“Not solely is it impractical, it is foolish,” he stated. “And the notion that that is truly taking place comes from the world of conspiracy theories, Flat Earthers and folk who simply do not perceive how the techniques work, and that form of ignorance should not be working our authorities operations, I do not just like the notion that somebody goes to take a flat-out lie and run with it, notably in opposition to voters.”

Fontes stated these pushing these claims “may contemplate the extra believable cause that their insurance policies do not match what American voters need, they usually’ve acquired crappy candidates. That is a way more believable rationalization for the rationale why a few of them do not win their races.”

Two teams, the Arizona Free Enterprise Membership and Restoring Integrity and Belief in Elections, filed a lawsuit in Yavapai earlier this yr difficult the follow of utilizing newer signatures from poll envelopes and different paperwork to find out if a signature is legitimate. Fontes filed a movement to dismiss the lawsuit, saying that state legislation requires election officers to examine “registration information,” which is broad sufficient to cowl extra information that include a voter’s signature.

Yavapai County Superior Court docket Choose John Napper denied that movement.

“The language of the statute is obvious and unambiguous,” Napper wrote. “The frequent which means of ‘registration’ within the English language is to enroll to take part in an exercise.”

Lake and others seized on the ruling, claiming that it confirmed that Maricopa and different counties used an unlawful technique to approve vote-by-mail ballots.

“A decide discovered @Adrian_Fontes & his successor as Maricopa County Recorder @Stephen_Richer have been utilizing signature verification procedures that BREAK THE LAW,” Lake tweeted, though the precise trial has not but began.

This week, Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby, who refused to certify his county’s 2022 election outcomes, filed an identical swimsuit in opposition to Maricopa County. Crosby had earlier tried to take his case on to the Arizona Supreme Court docket, which declined to listen to it and advised the Republican to refile it on the decrease degree.

Fontes stated that limiting the signature examine to the unique voter-registration type to the unique will end in extra work for election officers, who must attain out to extra voters to make sure they have been those who despatched in ballots, and extra votes being discarded.

“You probably have Parkinson’s illness, your signature goes to vary fairly radically over a brief time period,” Fontes stated. “The notion that an older veteran or an older voter goes to get disenfranchised as a result of Mr. Crosby does not need us to evaluate their whole document is simply—I believe there is a tinge of cruelty there that I simply will not settle for.”