From left, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich
By Mary Jo Pitzl |Arizona Republic
Arizona’s elections will happen this year without any last-minute changes to procedures, a court ruled late Friday, rejecting a challenge from Attorney General Mark Brnovich against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.
The ruling from Yavapai County Superior Court Judge John Napper means the state’s Elections Procedures Manual from 2019 will remain in effect through 2022, barring any appeals from the attorney general. The manual details everything from how early ballots should be handled to how to handle an extension of election deadlines, if needed.
An updated version of the manual became a point of dispute between Hobbs and Brnovich late last year. The attorney general objected to large portions of the manual that Hobbs had compiled.
But the two could not resolve their differences before the Dec. 31, 2021, deadline set by law for the manual to be finalized — in part because Brnovich waited until nine days before the deadline to demand that nearly one-third of the 300-page manual get revised or excised. While Hobbs agreed to make some changes, she rejected others.
