Phoenix- Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ veto of the bipartisan bill HB2560 is a missed opportunity to present voters with essential election records that would have allowed them to verify the accuracy and legitimacy of the state’s elections.
The bill would have provided voters with four sets of data to confirm Arizona’s election results. The first two data sets would have allowed voters to see that only eligible and qualified voters cast a ballot. The third and fourth data sets would have allowed voters to compare a digital image of every paper ballot to the way that ballot’s votes were recorded in the final results spreadsheet – essentially the starting and finish lines of the electronic counting process.
In her veto statement, Gov. Hobbs incorrectly claimed that publishing ballot images would threaten anonymity and privacy and add to the spread of mis- and dis-information.
“In fact, the bill would have achieved just the opposite,” said John Brakey, director of AUDIT Elections USA, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to increasing transparency and accuracy in elections. “The Governor has ignored the experience of multiple jurisdictions around the country that have been posting ballot images without the problems she claims would be caused. This bill would have helped to expose false election claims.”
“This bill would have been transformative for Arizona because it would have enabled every voter to see true election results for themselves,” said Republican Senator Ken Bennett, the primary sponsor of the bill, which was also enthusiastically supported by Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. “Our country needs models for trust. Even Florida Democratic State Party Chair Nikki Fried wrote to Gov. Hobbs stating that HB 2560 ‘provides an unparalleled opportunity to enhance election accuracy, assist with efficient and reliable recounts, and promote the credibility of our election outcomes.’” Bennett added, “It’s tragic that what Republicans are trying to prevent Democrats from doing in Florida, Democrats are preventing Republicans and Democrats from doing in Arizona.”
Democrats in Arizona, Florida, New York, Tennessee, North Carolina, California, and other states who were familiar with the bill’s transparency goals and election data sets praised the bill. They believe it could have set a national example for how to restore trust by election skeptics.
Here is a link to a file containing 10 VIP letters of support for HB 2560 sent to Gov. Hobbs after the bill was passed by the House and Senate on May 15: https://bit.ly/3IA0cSD
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· Brad Friedman @TheBradBlog May 18: AZ Rep Republicans with Democrat SoS Support, Pass Landmark Election Transparency Bill: Today's #BradCast Guest: AZ GOP State Senator and former Sec. of State Ken Bennett (@BennettArizona) https://bradblog.com/?p=14669
· #HB2560 “Digital Ballot Images: Key to Trustworthy Elections & Bridging Our Great Divide.” By JOHN R. BRAKEY 05/19/23: https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/elections/digital-ballot-images-key-to-trustworthy-elections-bridging-our-great-divide/
On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 10:54 AM Ray Lutz <raylutz@citizensoversight.org> wrote Quoting Gov. Hobbs:
