By Mary Jo Pitzl | Arizona Republic
A dispute between Attorney General Mark Brnovich and elections officials statewide has apparently derailed a new manual intended to guide elections over the next two years.
Brnovich is withholding his required approval of the Elections Procedures Manual unless numerous sections with which he disagrees are struck from the 300-page document. Included in his objections are sections that outline how elections officials are to carry out the requirements of the two new election-related bills passed by the Legislature earlier this year.
Brnovich outlined his position in a Dec. 22 letter to Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, whose office must revise the manual every odd-numbered year. Hobbs created a draft in consultation with county elections officials statewide and after seeking feedback from the public.
The law requires approval from the attorney general and the governor before it can take effect.
While Hobbs accepted some of the revisions Brnovich suggested, she said others are “wholesale deletions” that have no basis in law.
