By Howard Fischer | Arizona Capitol Times
Key Points:
- Pending legislation demands all tabulation equipment must be sourced in the U.S. by 2029
- Currently, there are no voting machines that meet the requirements
- Even if manufacturers start production immediately, officials are unsure they’ll meet the deadline
President Trump has promised to bring manufacturing back to America.
But if he isn’t successful by 2029, Arizonans could end up counting ballots by hand.
On party-line votes, both the Republican controlled House and Senate have approved legislation spelling out that, beginning that year, the Secretary of State’s Office cannot certify vote-recording and vote-tabulating equipment unless each and every part of the machine, including all components and software, are “sourced from the United States.”
House Bill 2651 also says the equipment must be assembled in the United States.
The measure now goes to Gov. Katie Hobbs.
The only thing is, there are no voting tabulation machines available that meet those conditions according to Jenn Marson, a lobbyist for the Arizona Association of Counties. And it is her organization’s members who would have to comply.
She told lawmakers there are probably companies that could meet the deadline. But the problem, Marson said, comes down to this: What if they can’t?
Rep. Brian Garcia, D-Tempe, said he thinks he knows what the result will be.
