Conrad Tolson
Dana Lewis, Pinal County Recorder and Elections Officer was our guest in April.
Election integrity: State legislative efforts to prevent noncitizens from voting go back more than 20 years. Arizona voters approved Prop 200 in 2003, which would have required documented proof of citizenship to vote; however, a 2013 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court said that Arizona must allow people to register to vote with a federal form, which only requires a voter to attest they are a citizen (no documentation required). Arizona accommodated the Supreme Court decision by creating a Federal-only class of voters restricted to casting a ballot only for President and U.S. Congressional candidates. In March 2022, the state legislature passed, and then-governor Ducey signed HB2492, which would have required documented proof of citizenship for Arizona voters for Presidential and Congressional elections. Also, in 2022 the legislature passed HB2243, which would have required county recorders to purge voters from the rolls if the Recorder receives and confirms information that the person is not a U.S. citizen or is not an Arizona resident. A federal judge stayed implementation of these orders for the 2024 election.
Election results: Aiming to get election results on election night, rather than many days later, the legislature recently sent a Bill to Gov. Hobbs that would have modeled our elections on the Florida model. The key difference is that Arizona laws currently allow early ballots to be turned-in all the way up to the end of election day (without ID verification at the polling place); it takes several days after election day for workers to verify signatures on ballots received. This puts a tremendous burden on election workers and slows election results. For example, in 2024, Maricopa County received 250,000 early ballots on election day. The governor vetoed this Bill.
July primaries: Arizona primary elections are in July because the legislature is in session the first half of the year and it would be difficult for the legislators to campaign before the legislative session ends.
News you can use: The Recorder’s Office recently instituted RNS (Recorder Notification System). This system is available to all registered homeowners in Pinal County and will notify them whenever a document (such as a lien) is recorded against their property. This is similar to the Assessor’s PAL (Parcel Alert List). While the Assessor’s Office cannot prevent fraudulent deeds from being recorded, the PAL program notifies property owners when a new deed is recorded or when there is a request to change the mailing address associated with their property. The RNS will notify property owners when liens are recorded against their property. RNS and PAL are not automatic and homeowners must contact the Assessor’s and Recorder’s Office to apply.
The RR Republican Club meets monthly, usually at 9 a.m. on the second Saturday of the month. If you would like to visit our club to learn more about what’s going on in our community and state, contact the Republican Club at RRAZRC@gmail.com or watch the Midweek Scoop for meeting times and locations.