Grand Canyon Times

State Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Mesa) told the Grand Canyon Times that she will use whatever leverage she has to get her election security measures to Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, before the Arizona Legislature adjourns.

“I don’t know if we have the votes to keep from ending session, but I will be a ‘no’ if a motion is made,” she said.

Kelly’s election reform bill, Senate Bill 1241, was shot down this week on the floor when Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-Scottsdale), who is running for secretary of state, refused to support it. She argued that some of its provisions never received a full airing before the Government Committee, which she chairs. Without Ugenti-Rita’s support, Republicans, with a slim 16-14 lead in the Senate, failed to muster the votes for passage.

Townsend said that Ugenti-Rita’s motivation was based on pride because she (Townsend) went around the chair to move the legislation forward.  

“That is no reason to kill the bill,” Townsend said on the floor. “We need this bill this year in order to ensure changes are in place for next year’s primary. We need it to restore confidence in our elections.”

She cited chain of custody issues in the 2020 general election, “where contractors were able to get into the cages where hard drives were being kept without chain of custody, and had access to the equipment. That is not one example of many reasons why we need to secure our chain of custody.”

Another provision in her bill establishes a procedure for county or state prosecutors to become involved when inconsistencies exist in signatures on early ballots. Another provision provides that anyone who votes at a polling place get a paper receipt showing their ballot has been accepted.

Townsend refused to support a Ugenti-Rita bill, Senate Bill 1083, which increases the circumstances under which election recounts are required. That bill went down as well.

A private security firm, Cyber Ninjas, is finishing up a forensic audit of 2.1 million votes cast in Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, Mesa and Scottsdale.

Townsend said that even if the audit finds no fraud, the investigation has already been invaluable for uncovering flaws and the potential for fraud in the state’s voting system.

Previous recounts found no fraud or mistakes in the Maricopa County vote count, particularly in the presidential election. Joe Biden became the first Democrat to carry Arizona since 1996.