Votes are counted by staff at the Maricopa County Elections Department office on Nov. 5, 2020. Photo by Courtney Pedroza || Getty Images
CAITLIN SIEVERS
Arizona Mirror
The Arizona House of Representatives on Monday passed a Republican-backed bill that would allow hand count of ballots, but it will almost assuredly meet with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ veto stamp.
The House voted 31-29 along party lines to approve House Bill 2722, which would allow any county in the state to perform a hand-count of ballots in an election, in place of an electronic count. The Senate approved the bill 16-12, also along party lines, on May 15. The bill next goes to Hobbs.
Republicans on the House and Senate elections committees have repeatedly advocated for hand counts this year, claiming without proof that the state’s voting machines are vulnerable to hacking and sabotage.
“House Bill 2722 is, frankly, an unhinged idea that undermines our shared values,” Democratic Rep. Oscar De Los Santos, of Laveen, told the House on Monday.
With Arizona’s lengthy ballots, often containing dozens of races, and millions of people voting across the state, hand counts are just not practical, De Los Santos said. He pointed to the failed Cyber Ninjas audit of the 2020 presidential election results in Maricopa County as proof that hand counts do not work.
