State Rep. Shawnna Bolick, state Sen. Michelle Ugenti Rita, Arizona PBS host Ted Simons and Beau Lane at a June 15, 2022 candidate debate in Phoenix. State Rep. Mark Finchem, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for secretary of state, did not attend./Arizona PBS
One task, once mundane, has been politicized by some of the candidates vying for the office: election certification.
By Ben Giles, KJZZ
Arizona’s secretary of state has many election-related and administrative functions. But one task, once mundane, has been politicized by some of the candidates vying for the office: election certification.
Here’s how that works. By law, boards of supervisors in all 15 counties must “canvass” the local election results — that’s the process more simply known as certification.
“Once the secretary of state receives the canvass from all 15 counties, she will then canvass the statewide election results and certify the election at the statewide level,” says Kori Lorick, Arizona’s election director under the current secretary, Katie Hobbs.
There are precise deadlines in statute for when these things must occur — for example, this election year, Hobbs must certify the primary election results by Aug. 22.
“These aren’t numbers that we’re just making up or dates that we’re, you know, kind of a discretionary thing,” Lorick says. “This is under statute and required by Arizona law.”
The two Democrats running to be the next secretary of state — state Rep. Reginald Bolding and former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes — have no problem with that.
But among the four Republicans vying for the office, not all agree.
