Arizona Democrats and Republican leaders have voiced their concerns over voting in person and mailing in ballots as the November presidential election approaches.
While Democratic leaders have concerns with the spreading of misinformation regarding the validity of mail-in-ballots, Republicans have voiced other concerns with the logistics of voting, including the trustworthiness of the mailing system.
Arizona’s Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said that the vote by-mail process is secure, however, and that all of the ballots are tracked by the county as long as they’re returned in the appropriate envelope with the voter’s signature.
As far as where the ballots go after mailing them out, she said that voters can track their ballots by text, from the time it is dropped off to the time it has been processed, to the time it was counted and voters are notified throughout the entire process.
Hobbs also said election security is one of her main focuses for her administration when it comes to concerns from both parties.
“We’ve been focused on … building a culture of security and making sure that not only are the systems secure, but that the public has confidence in the security of the systems,” she said.
Maricopa County Republican Chairman Rae Chornenky said one of her concerns is that people, whether it be voters or poll volunteers, will be afraid to speak up when they see something that appears wrong or worth questioning.
During the primary election in August, Chornenky said voters contacted her with evidence questioning its security and that at least seven people contacted her to say that they received different ballots with slightly different names.
“The rest, they had received ballots at their home for deceased family members or family members who had moved from Arizona,” the chairman said. “Whether people vote those ballots? We don’t know. We have no way of knowing.”
Hobbs said that the county will reach out to that voter if there is a mismatch between signatures or a voter forgot to sign. If there are other concerns, she said, voters can also call the county office to track their ballot.
But because of what happened in August, Chornenky said people should question how they are instructed by poll workers. And despite her concerns, Chornenky said tracking ballots by text is “wonderful,” but doesn’t think the public is aware of that tool.
Democratic Committee of Maricopa County Communications Director Edder Díaz-Martínez, on the other hand, said Arizona has a “historic tradition of voting by mail.”
According to Díaz-Martínez, the democratic committee has no concerns regarding election security and there was a historic turnout in the primaries.
“It was amidst the fact that the president was calling for voter fraud and was really seriously trying to undermine the integrity of the elections by calling into question the United States Postal Service,” he said. “This (vote by mail) is nothing new to us.”
Díaz-Martínez said a ballot can be tracked from the time it is dropped off to when it has been counted, and that “it’s just another way for voters to make sure that their vote is counted. It gives them confidence.”
Díaz-Martínez also said the democratic committee wants transparency and that its only concern is the misinformation regarding the integrity of mail-in-ballots.
“It’s obviously disheartening. You don’t want to hear that from the commander-in-chief, from the president, to say that the way that he was elected was a corrupt way or if it was fraudulent,” he said. “That really just causes for more voter disenfranchisement, which is exactly what we’re trying to work against.”
The upcoming election brings tensions from both sides, but Colton Powell, a second-year law student at Arizona State University, said he feels that the election system is “pretty secure, especially with mail-in voting.”
“I feel like mail in voting is actually probably more secure at this point because I feel voter fraud is not really as rampant as people believe,” he said.
Contact the reporter at pmuse@asu.edu.
