JEN FIFIELD
VOTEBEAT
Cochise County will only be able to work with one company to test security features on ballots in Arizona as part of a state pilot this year — and it’s not the company with political connections that pushed for the work.
Cochise County supervisors on Tuesday voted 1-2 against extending the time period for a $1 million state grant for the secure ballot paper that expired in May — this means County Recorder David Stevens’ proposed contract with Authentix will not move forward. Supervisors Ann English and Peggy Judd voted no, and Supervisor Tom Crosby voted yes.
The “no” vote means that Stevens will only be able to use supplies he had already ordered from Runbeck Election Services, which cost $187,500, to test watermarks on ballots as part of the pilot, and will not be able to hire Authentix and one other company that had applied separately for the work, ProVoteSolutions. An item on Tuesday’s meeting to approve a contract with the two companies was nullified.
Texas-based Authentix has partnered with former state Rep. Mark Finchem to try to make its security products mandatory on ballots across the country. A Votebeat investigation published earlier this month found that Stevens — a good friend of Finchem — appeared to have tailored the Cochise pilot to fit Authentix’s products.
Ballot security features include unique elements in the paper such as watermarks and special ink. Election skeptics see the features as a way to protect against fraudulent ballots and improve voter confidence, but some election technology experts say Cochise’s proposal would test features that were costly, excessive and potentially wouldn’t work in tabulation machines.
