The report came out about the same time as another report which found that over 18,000 ballots lacked chain of custody records in the county’s 2022 election. Coincidentally in the same election cycle, Governor Katie Hobbs edged out Kari Lake for the governor’s office by just 17,117 votes.
The new report, which was issued by two independent election integrity groups – the Pima Integrity Project (PIP) and CONELRAD Group – examined public records and summarized that the “[Pima County] Recorder appears to not be conducting voter list maintenance as they are required by law.” The teams found convicted felons and dead people on the voter rolls. Large numbers of people were added to the voter rolls prior to the elections and then removed afterward. There was no accountability for original ballots mailed to voters who requested a second one, the report found. An “overwhelming number” of inactive voters have been on the voter rolls for years, which the report said violates A.R.S. 16-165.
Tim Laux of PIP told The Arizona Sun Times, “The issues in Pima equal if not exceed those litigated in Maricopa County.”
Jack Dona, one of the founding members of CONELRAD Group, expressed skepticism that anything would be done to resolve the issues. “Until the judicial system definitively levies punishment and consequences for, at the least what we deem to be incompetent malfeasance and intentional acts of maladministration regarding the voting systems in the state, these issues will likely arise again,” he told The Sun Times.
