Bill Text: AZ HB2163 | 2019 | Fifty-fourth Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Poll workers; party observers
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-22 - Assigned to House RULES Committee [HB2163 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2019-HB2163-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: poll workers; party observers |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-fourth Legislature First Regular Session 2019
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HB 2163 |
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Introduced by Representative Townsend
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AN ACT
amending sections 16-531 and 16-621, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to conduct of elections.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 16-531, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-531. Appointment of election boards; qualifications
A. When an election is ordered, and not less than twenty days before a general or primary election, the board of supervisors shall appoint for each election precinct one inspector, one marshal, two judges and as many clerks of election as deemed necessary. An inspector, marshal, judge or clerk who is married to or is the parent or child of another election board worker may not serve in the same polling location as that board worker's spouse, parent or child and shall sign a sworn statement under penalty of PERJURY that the person is not serving at the same polling location. The inspector, marshal, judges and clerks shall be qualified voters of the precinct for which appointed, unless there is not a sufficient number of persons available to provide the number of appointments required. The inspector, marshal and judges shall not have changed their political party affiliation or their no party preference affiliation since the last preceding general election, and if they are members of the two political parties that cast the highest number of votes in the state at the last preceding general election, they shall be divided equally between these two parties. There shall be an equal number of inspectors in the various precincts in the county who are members of the two largest political parties. In each precinct where the inspector is a member of one of the two largest political parties, the marshal in that precinct shall be a member of the other of the two largest political parties. The county recorder or county officer in charge of elections shall post on the county website the number and political party of applicants for election board worker positions and the number and political party of persons hired for election board worker positions. Whenever possible, any person appointed as an inspector shall have had previous experience as an inspector, judge, marshal or clerk of elections. If there is no qualified person in a given precinct, the appointment of an inspector may be made from names provided by the county party chairman. If not less than ninety days before the election the chairman of the county committee of either of the parties designates qualified voters of the precinct, or of another precinct if there are not sufficient members of his party available in the precinct to provide the necessary representation on the election board as judge, such designated qualified voters shall be appointed. The judges, together with the inspector, shall constitute the board of elections. Any registered voter in the election precinct, or in another election precinct if there are not sufficient persons available in the election precinct for which the clerks are being appointed, may be appointed as clerk.
B. If the election precinct consists of fewer than three hundred qualified electors, the board of supervisors may appoint not fewer than one inspector and two judges. The board of supervisors shall give notice of election precincts consisting of fewer than three hundred qualified electors to the county chairmen of the two largest political parties not later than thirty days before the election. The inspector and judges shall be appointed in the same manner by party as provided in subsection A of this section and the same prohibition applies regarding an election board worker who is married to or is the parent or child of another election board worker serving at the same polling location.
C. If a nonpartisan election is ordered, not less than twenty days before the election the governing board holding the election shall appoint, without consideration for political party, a minimum of three election workers for each polling place. The election workers shall consist of at least one inspector and two judges. Whenever possible, they shall be qualified electors of the precinct located within the district, without consideration for political party.
D. For election boards established pursuant to subsection B of this section, the inspector and two judges shall be appointed to provide as equal as practicable representation of members of the two largest political parties on the board in the same manner as provided for the election boards prescribed by subsection A of this section. Any registered voter in the election precinct, or in another election precinct if there are not sufficient persons available in the election precinct for which the clerks are being appointed, may be appointed as clerk. No United States, state, county or precinct officer, nor a candidate for office at the election, other than a precinct committeeman or a candidate for the office of precinct committeeman, is qualified to act as judge, inspector, marshal or clerk.
E. If an electronic voting system is in use the write‑in ballots shall be tallied by a board of elections consisting of one inspector and two judges who are appointed in the same manner by party as provided in subsection A of this section.
F. Notwithstanding any other law, the board of supervisors may appoint to an election board to serve as a clerk of election a person who is not eligible to vote if all of the following conditions are met:
1. The person is a minor who will be at least sixteen years of age at the time of the election for which the person is named to the election board.
2. The person is a citizen of the United States at the time of the election for which the person is named to the election board.
3. The person is supervised by an adult who has been trained as an elections officer.
4. The person has received training provided by the officer in charge of elections.
5. The parent or guardian of the person has provided written permission for the person to serve.
G. A school district or charter school shall not be required to reduce its average daily membership, as defined in section 15-901, for any pupil who is absent from one or more instructional programs as a result of the pupil's service on an election board pursuant to subsection F of this section.
H. A school district or charter school shall not count any pupil's absence from one or more instructional programs as a result of the pupil's service on an election board pursuant to subsection F of this section against any mandatory attendance requirements for the pupil.
I. Nothing in this section shall prevent the board of supervisors or governing body from refusing for cause to reappoint, or from removing for cause, an election board member.
Sec. 2. Section 16-621, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-621. Proceedings at the counting center
A. All proceedings at the counting center shall be under the direction of the board of supervisors or other officer in charge of elections and shall be conducted in accordance with the approved instructions and procedures manual provided for in section 16‑452 under the observation of representatives of each political party and the public. If the officer in charge of elections is unable to ensure that a representative of the two largest political parties is present for all counting, the officer in charge of elections shall report to the board of supervisors on the efforts made to obtain representatives of the political parties. The proceedings at the counting center may also be observed by up to three additional people representing a candidate for nonpartisan office, or representing a political committee in support of or in opposition to a ballot measure, proposition or question. A draw by lot shall determine which three groups or candidates shall have representatives participate in the observation at the counting center. Persons representing a candidate for nonpartisan office or persons or groups representing a political committee in support of or in opposition to a ballot measure, proposition or question, who are interested in participating in the observation, shall notify the officer in charge of elections of their desire to be included in the draw no later than ten days before the election. After the deadline to receive submissions from the interested persons or groups, but prior to seven days before the election, the county officer in charge of elections shall draw by lot, from the list of those who expressed interest, three persons or groups and those selected shall be notified and allowed to observe the proceedings at the counting center. If a group is selected they may alter who represents that group for different days of observation but on any given observation day a selected group shall not send more than one observer. A group may rotate an observer throughout the day. No persons except Only those persons who are authorized for the purpose shall touch any ballot or ballot card or return. All persons who are engaged in processing and counting of the ballots shall be qualified electors, shall be deputized in writing and shall take an oath that they will faithfully perform their assigned duties. There shall be no preferential counting of ballots for the purpose of projecting the outcome of the election. If any ballot, including any ballot received from early voting, is damaged or defective so that it cannot properly be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment, a true duplicate copy shall be made of the damaged ballot in the presence of witnesses and substituted for the damaged ballot. All duplicate ballots shall be clearly labeled "duplicate" and shall bear a serial number which shall be recorded on the damaged or defective ballot.
B. If for any reason it becomes impracticable to count all or a part of the ballots with tabulating equipment, the officer in charge of elections may direct that they be counted manually, following as far as practicable the provisions governing the counting of paper ballots.
C. For any statewide, county or legislative election, the county recorder or officer in charge of elections shall provide for a live video recording of the custody of all ballots while the ballots are present in a tabulation room in the counting center. The live video recording shall include date and time indicators and shall be linked to the secretary of state's website. The secretary of state shall post links to the video coverage for viewing by the public. The county recorder or officer in charge of elections shall record the video coverage of the ballots at the counting center and shall retain those recordings as a public record for at least as long as the challenge period for the general election. If the live video feed is disrupted or disabled, the recorder or officer in charge of elections is not liable for the disruption but shall attempt to reinstate video coverage as soon as is practicable. Any disruption in video coverage shall not affect or prevent the continued tabulation of ballots. This subsection is contingent on legislative appropriation.
D. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall maintain records that record the chain of custody for all election equipment and ballots during early voting through the completion of provisional voting tabulation.
