A spokesperson for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told The Arizona Sun Times that the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office will publish all public comments on the 2023 Election Procedure Manual on the website after a review of comments has been completed.
“The comments will be made public after staff has a chance to review. Once that review is complete, it will be posted on the Secretary of State’s website,” the spokesperson told The Sun Times.
This follows State Representatives Steve Montenegro (R-Goodyear) and Michael Carbone (R-Buckeye) demanding that Fontes publish all of the public comments on the 2023 Election Procedure Manual on the secretary of state’s website to demonstrate his commitment to transparency.
The representatives previously requested that Fontes (pictured above) extend the “extremely short” deadline for comment on the 259-page manual which he refused.
Fontes released the manual draft on August 1st and set the deadline for Tuesday, even though he does not have to produce it to Governor Katie Hobbs or Attorney General Kris Mayes until October 1st.
Montenegro told The Sun Times that it’s critical for Fontes to publish all public comments before the draft’s final adoption to foster transparency and create an open dialogue on the issue.
“The Elections Procedures Manual is of paramount importance to ensuring the integrity and security of election administration in Arizona. Representative Carbone and I have called on Secretary Fontes to publish all public comments submitted about the draft Elections Procedure Manual before its final adoption because it would help foster an open dialogue on the issue and demonstrate a commitment to transparency, which is essential for the rebuilding of public trust in the election process,” Montenegro told The Sun Times.
Following Montenegro and Carbone’s request, State Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) assembled his own public list of all of the public comments on the manual to ensure that Fontes upholds transparency on this issue.
The public comments on the manual include comments from State Representative Jacqueline Parker (R-Mesa), the Arizona House and Senate GOP, the Republican National Committee, the Arizona Republican Party, the Maricopa County Republican Committee, We The People Arizona Alliance, and Merissa Hamilton with EZAZ.
Some of the comments cite finding legal errors in the draft manual, including unlawfully directing county officials to provide instructions to voters that contradict Arizona Revised Statute 16-610 and 611 and the need to delete Chapter 1 of the manual since Arizona law does not authorize the secretary of state to regulate voter registration processes.
State Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) and Speaker of the House Ben Toma (R-Peoria) said if Fontes does not correct these “notable errors” in the manual, they will take legal action.
Arizona Revised Statute 16-452 permits the Arizona Secretary of State to create an Elections Procedure Manual every odd year before the general election. The Elections Procedure Manual gives election officials across the state direction compatible with the law and statutes. Despite state law requiring the secretary of state to update the Elections Procedure Manual every two years, the administration of Arizona’s 2022 elections used the 2019 Elections Procedure Manual.
The Sun Times reached out to Carbone for additional comment but did not receive a reply before press time.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Adrian Fontes” by Adrian Fontes. Background Photo “Arizona Capitol” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
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