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Presentation 2. A.

Regular BOS Meeting

Meeting Date:	11/20/2018
Submitted For:	James Menlove	Submitted By:	Sherry Grice, Management Associate
Department:	County Manager

Information

Request/Subject

Presentation and discussion of the electoral process for an election in Gila County.

Background Information

The Secretary of State serves as the chief election officer in the state of Arizona, which includes oversight of campaign finance for statewide and legislative candidates, verifying initiatives and referenda for the ballot, and certifying the official results of each election. In Arizona, there are 15 elected County Recorders and their elections divisions tabulate the ballots and upload them to the Secretary of State's website. The Secretary of State’s only role in this process is to display the results once they are uploaded by each county. According to the Secretary of State, one of the major reasons counting ballots takes so long is that there are hundreds of thousands of early ballots dropped off at the polls on election day - approximately 320,000 statewide this time. The counties work diligently to verify the signatures on each and every one of those early ballots before they can be tabulated. Once the county election officials verify the signature on each of those ballots (which is no small task), they then make sure that a voter didn't cast an early ballot AND vote in person at a polling location. All of these processes take a little bit of time and is done to ensure that voters can trust the outcome of their elections. Also, it takes time to tabulate the ballots to ensure the security of our elections. Arizona has made it a top priority to make sure that our critical election infrastructure is secure from any nefarious actors. Some of these new security measures do, however, slow down the ballot tabulation process. The Gila County Recorder's Office and Elections Department are committed to offering equal access to the electoral process for all Gila County's citizens and candidates by conducting elections with the highest level of integrity to ensure every vote counts. In addition, they are committed to maintaining the public confidence that their elections are fair, efficient and accurate.

Evaluation

N/A

Conclusion

N/A

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Board offer input, commitment and support to the joint effort by the Recorder's Office and Elections Department to continue offering equal access to the electoral process for all Gila County citizens and candidates by conducting elections with the highest level of integrity and ensure the public's confidence in the election process.

Suggested Motion

Information/Discussion regarding the electoral process for an election in Gila County. (James Menlove)

Attachments
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