Secretary of State’s online signature-gathering system breaks after redistricting

Screenshot via azsos.gov

By Jeremy Duda | Arizona Mirror

Voters who want to sign online petitions and the candidates who need those signatures to get their names on the ballot this November are being thwarted by a glitch in the secretary of state’s system caused by the decennial redistricting process. 

And in counties that are overseeing springtime municipal elections, the glitch likely won’t be fixed until nearly the deadline for candidates to file signatures so they can appear on the ballot.

E-Qual is a system that allows voters to sign nominating petitions for congressional and legislative candidates online. Candidates still have the option of collecting signatures on paper petitions, but can collect 100% of the signatures they need online. Voters can also use E-Qual to give the $5 contributions that candidates need to qualify for public campaign funding from Arizona’s Clean Elections system. 

The system automatically rejects signatures from voters who aren’t qualified to sign a candidate’s petition, such as those who live outside a candidate’s district or who are registered with the wrong party. 

Normally, that’s a safeguard that helps candidates ensure that their signatures are valid. But it’s creating a problem with the new districts that the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission recently approved — but that aren’t technically in place yet.

E-Qual hasn’t yet been updated with the new districts and is only programmed with data from the old ones, which were used from 2012-2020. Because most of the new district numbers are different from the old ones, candidates who have already filed to run for office using their new districts are unable to collect signatures online from the voters who live there.

READ ON:

Share this!

Additional Articles

Top master-planned communities for 2024

By AZ Big Media Here are the Top 10 master-planned communities in Arizona, based on public voting for the 2024 edition of Ranking Arizona, the state’s biggest and most comprehensive business opinion poll. Ranking Arizona

Read More »
News Categories

Get Our Twice Weekly Newsletter!

* indicates required

Rose Law Group pc values “outrageous client service.” We pride ourselves on hyper-responsiveness to our clients’ needs and an extraordinary record of success in achieving our clients’ goals. We know we get results and our list of outstanding clients speaks to the quality of our work.

January 2022
M T W T F S S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31