Pinal County Ruling Threatens to Transform Ballot Rejections in Arizona’s November Election

A Pinal County judge is scheduled to rule on a critical election-related case on Friday, which may significantly impact the number of ballots rejected in the upcoming presidential election.

The case involves a dispute between Pinal County officials and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ office regarding a new guideline in the state’s Election Procedures Manual related to voters who arrive at incorrect polling locations.

Fontes’ office filed a lawsuit against Pinal County Recorder Dana Lewis and the county supervisors after discovering the county’s intention to disregard the rule.

During an emergency hearing in Pinal County Superior Court, Assistant Attorney General Kara Karlson, representing Fontes’ office, emphasized that the new rule aims to safeguard voters from having their ballots invalidated for reasons that would not apply elsewhere in the state.

The disagreement stems from differing electoral models in Arizona. While most counties have transitioned to a vote center model, enabling voters to cast their ballots at any location within their jurisdiction, Pinal County continues to utilize a precinct-based system. This system assigns voters specific polling places based on their residential addresses.

In Pinal County, voters attempting to vote at an incorrect precinct may cast a provisional ballot only if they believe there has been an error. However, if those provisional ballots are later deemed invalid, they are rejected. Historical data indicates that hundreds of provisional ballots have faced rejection in each election due to this issue, including 274 in November 2020 and 235 in November 2022.

The new guideline from Fontes mandates that counties that follow the precinct model must equip their accessible voting devices with every ballot style. This measure ensures that if a voter arrives at the wrong location, poll workers can assist them in casting the appropriate ballot instead of defaulting to a provisional ballot.

Pinal County officials contend that enforcing the use of accessible machines in this manner effectively pressures counties to adopt the vote center model, despite state law permitting a choice between the two systems. The county has expressed reservations about implementing a vote center model, particularly regarding the security of linking voter registration to the internet.

Other counties are complying with Fontes’ new rule, leading Karlson to argue that non-compliance may result in Pinal County voters experiencing unequal treatment compared to those in other counties. “If we are in an election contest and there are votes that were counted in all 14 other counties, but they weren’t counted in Pinal County, even though they could have been or should have been, that is going to cause major, major problems in Arizona elections,” Karlson stated, highlighting the potential implications for fairness in the electoral process.

The judge indicated that a decision would be made on Friday, although it might not be until late in the day.