The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office is turning to county employees to set up voting equipment instead of hiring a technology company for the general election in November after facing criticism for reports of delays in the opening of polling sites in the primary election in August.
Maricopa Recorder Adrian Fontes said reports of delays from some voters were blown out of proportion by the media and that record voter participation is what’s worth noting. He said the focus on “minor issues” is frustrating and dissuades voters.
The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office reported that a record 1.2 million people cast a ballot in August, 33 percent of registered voters. An interim report by the Internal Audit Office says 62 out of 503 polling stations opened at 11:33 a.m. rather than 6 a.m. when they were scheduled to open.
The Internal Audit Office’s report identifies a lack of a contingency plan as the main cause for delays in August, something Fontes’ office denies.
“We attacked the problem. All Maricopa voters had a place to vote,” Fontes said.
Fontes campaigned on promises to improve the way elections are conducted in Maricopa County after his predecessor, Republican Helen Purcell, fumbled the presidential-preference election in 2016.
The Recorder’s Office blamed the mishap on the contractor, Insight Enterprises, which was hired to install voting equipment and provide technical support.
According to Insight’s own report for the election audit, the Recorder’s Office requested a smaller number of technical support staff to stay within the budget than the number used during a special election in the Eighth Congressional District in February when Insight’s services were first used.
A lack of technical support staff and trained county employees is highlighted in the Internal Audit Offices report.
In an informal meeting of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 22 Fontes said county employees have handled technical voting equipment in the past and are prepared to install and troubleshoot the current equipment first used in 2017.
“There was much internal discussion back in the spring and early summer months about the necessity of incurring the cost of using a contractor for equipment set-up. But, worrying that the work was too technical for our own folks, and wanting to ensure that the set-up went smoothly with minimal technical problems, we decided to hire the contractor,” Fontes said.
A press release published by the Recorder’s Office in October says 250 county employees have volunteered to help with the general election as of Oct. 4.
“The County Recorder has much more confidence in the capabilities of county employees to make sure the job gets done right,” Murphy Herbert, Director of Communications at the Recorder’s Office said via email.
Fontes told the board on Oct. 22 that he recognized his department was understaffed despite recent additions. He added that its staff was reorganized under a project manager and that at least one employee that worked the primary election will be assigned to every polling site during the general election.
The Recorder’s office is also doubling the number of troubleshooters working during the election. Voting centers’ hours of operation have also been extended in anticipation of a record number of voter participation by the Recorder’s Office.
Contact the reporter at jicazare@asu.edu.
