¶ In 2022, Pinal County Had A Series Of Election Issues, Including Precincts Running Out Of Ballots In The Primary And A 500 Vote Discrepancy “Between Certified Election Tallies And Recounted Results”–Which Cavanaugh Capitalized On To Bolster His Ongoing Advocacy For Hand Counting Ballots In The 2024 Election.
¶ Ballot Issues Left Pinal County Precincts Without Ballots In The 2022 Primaries, In Addition To Incorrect Ballots Mailed To Voters The Month Before.
In July 2022, Ahead Of The Primary Election, Pinal County “Sent Out 60,000 ‘Bad’ Ballots To Voters That Didn’t Contain All The Right Races.” “This incident was the second large error from the county in as many months. In July the county sent out 60,000 ‘bad’ ballots to voters that didn’t contain all the right races. [...] ‘Despite rumors to the contrary, Ross did not oversee the Elections Department for this primary election in her role as the County Recorder,’ the county clarified in a statement.” [Arizona Capitol Times, 8/4/22]
In August 2022, Pinal County “Announced That It Had Run Out Of Ballots, And It Was Rushing To Print More So Everyone Could Vote” During The Primary Election. “On Tuesday night, Pinal County announced that it had run out of ballots, and it was rushing to print more so everyone could vote, but constituents say they went home when they couldn’t get a ballot on time. This incident was the second large error from the county in as many months. In July the county sent out 60,000 ‘bad’ ballots to voters that didn’t contain all the right races. [...] ‘Despite rumors to the contrary, Ross did not oversee the Elections Department for this primary election in her role as the County Recorder,’ the county clarified in a statement.“ [Arizona Capitol Times, 8/4/22]
- Arizona Capitol Times: “At Least 20 Precincts At One Point Either Ran Out Or Were Running Low And Requested More Ballots.” “A spokesman for the Pinal County Attorney’s Office said that ‘at least 20 precincts at one point either ran out or were running low and requested more ballots’ on Tuesday. An official statement from Pinal County Office of Emergency Management indicated that staff were printing more ballots to distribute to the precincts that ran out and said that anyone in line to vote by 7 p.m. would be able to cast their vote.” [Arizona Capitol Times, 8/4/22]
- The Ballot Shortage In Pinal County Resulted In The Firing Of Elections Officer David Fisk. “Pinal County fired elections officer David Frisk following an election day fiasco that led some would-be voters to leave the polls without casting a ballot.” [Arizona Capitol Times, 8/4/22]
Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Raquel Terán Pointed To “Years Of Underfunding Elections And The Counties That Run Them,” And “Dangerous Conspiracy Theories Perpetuated By The AZGOP That We Cannot Trust Our Elections.” “Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Raquel Terán issued a statement blaming Pinal County's blunders on ‘years of underfunding elections and the counties that run them,’ as well as ‘dangerous conspiracy theories perpetuated by the AZGOP that we cannot trust our elections.’” [NPR, 8/8/22]
¶
The Ballot Issues In The 2022 Primary Election Led To A Lawsuit From Congressional Candidate Kathleen Winn.
In 2022, Congressional Candidate Kathleen Winn Filed A Lawsuit Against The Pinal County Board Of Supervisors.
The Lawsuit Takes Issue With The Supplemental Ballots The County Mailed Out After Discovering Errors In The Originally Mailed Ballots.
¶ Cavanaugh Pushed For Post-Election Hand-Counted Audits In Pinal County, Justifying It By Invoking The “Repeated And Unfounded Claims By Former President Donald Trump About Ballot Tabulation Machines.”
In November 2022, Pinal County Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh “Proposed Doubling Or Tripling The Number Of Precincts Chosen For The Post-Election Hand-Count Audit.” “The elected leaders of an Arizona county who had considered following the lead of a rural county by expanding their hand-counts of ballots from next week’s election rejected the effort Wednesday. [...] During Wednesday’s meeting of the all-Republican Pinal County board, Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh proposed doubling or tripling the number of precincts chosen for the post-election hand-count audit. He pointed to the repeated and unfounded claims by former President Donald Trump about ballot tabulation machines that have fired up his supporters and also said that Hillary Clinton has made similar statements.” [AP, 11/2/22]
- Cavanaugh Has Pointed To The “Repeated And Unfounded Claims By Former President Donald Trump About Ballot Tabulation Machines” To Justify His Request. “The elected leaders of an Arizona county who had considered following the lead of a rural county by expanding their hand-counts of ballots from next week’s election rejected the effort Wednesday. [...] During Wednesday’s meeting of the all-Republican Pinal County board, Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh proposed doubling or tripling the number of precincts chosen for the post-election hand-count audit. He pointed to the repeated and unfounded claims by former President Donald Trump about ballot tabulation machines that have fired up his supporters and also said that Hillary Clinton has made similar statements.” [AP, 11/2/22]
On His Official Supervisor's Instagram, Cavanaugh Posted About A Virtual Meeting To Discuss A Hand Recount.
Pinal County Rejected The Ballot Hand Count Sought By Kevin Cavanaugh. “Republican Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh, who sought the expanded hand count as a more reliable test of voting machines, ultimately voted against his own proposal after a barrage of community opposition.” [AZ Central, 11/2/22]
¶ In 2022, Pinal County Discovered A “500-Vote Discrepancy Between Certified Election Tallies And Recounted Results,” Which Cavanaugh Said He Did Not Believe Was The Result Of Voter Fraud.
In December 2022, It Was Reported That Pinal County “Made Errors In Counting Some Ballots, Officials Said As A 500-Vote Discrepancy Between Certified Election Tallies And Recounted Results Came To Light.” “Three months after a disastrous primary, Pinal County seemed to pull off a smooth election day in November. But the county made errors in counting some ballots, officials said as a 500-vote discrepancy between certified election tallies and recounted results came to light on Thursday.” [AZ Central, 12/29/22]
- In Response, Cavanaugh Said That “He Does Not Believe The Discrepancy Is The Result Of Voter Fraud.” “Serdy said he is confident in the accuracy of the recount results, as did Roll in her recount summary. Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh, who has previously criticized the use of tabulators in the county, said he does not believe the discrepancy is the result of voter fraud.” [AZ Central, 12/29/22]
¶ After Blunders In The 2022 Election, The Pinal County Board Of Supervisors Discussed Changes To Restore Public Trust, With Cavanaugh Pushing For Hand Counts Of Ballots In The 2024 Election Even Though The Election Issues Were Not Caused By Machines And Acknowledging That He’s “Not An Elections Expert.”
In The Aftermath Of Blunders In The 2022 Election, The Pinal County Board Of Supervisors Discussed “Potential Consequences And Changes To Restore Public Trust.” “Pinal County supervisors and elections staff didn't know there was an issue with vote tallies before certifying the results of the November election, officials said Wednesday. But in the aftermath of the tallying blunder and a disastrous primary election, the county's Board of Supervisors plans to discuss potential consequences and changes to restore public trust.” [AZ Central, 1/4/23]
- Cavanaugh Said He Wanted To Discuss Recovering The $25,000 Performance Bonus Paid To Former Elections Director Virginia Ross. “To clean up its primary mess, Pinal County offered former Elections Director Virginia Ross a lucrative deal — a $175,000 salary and a $25,000 performance award in exchange for four months of work and a smooth November election. [...] Her bonus also was contingent on results being canvassed by the board. Cavanaugh said he wants to use an upcoming informal board session to talk about ‘recovery’ of the bonus, although he offered no details about how the county might go about rescinding the award.” [AZ Central, 1/4/23]
- Cavanaugh Proposed “A Series Of Special Meetings To Investigate The County’s Primary And General Election Woes.” “Ross's bonus isn't the only election-related item up for discussion. Cavanaugh proposed a series of special meetings to investigate the county's primary and general election woes. He wants the board to levy the authority to subpoena witnesses and evidence for the hearings, he said.” [AZ Central, 1/4/23]
An Investigation By Votebeat Found That Human Error Played A Role In Pinal County’s Midterm Election Miscount. “After human error in Pinal County’s midterm election caused officials to initially fail to count hundreds of ballots, the county’s supervisors now want to try counting ballots by hand. The county’s midterm mistakes weren’t caused by ballot tabulation machines, but rather because workers programmed machines incorrectly and overlooked machine errors as votes went uncounted. A Votebeat investigation published earlier this month found the county lacked procedures to properly track ballots cast at voting locations on Election Day and election officials didn’t adhere to safeguards to ensure each ballot was counted.” [Votebeat, 5/25/23]
- Cavanaugh Asked That The Board Discuss Counting All 2024 Ballots By Hand, Despite The County’s Elections Being “Plagued With Problems That Hand-Counting Ballots Will Not Solve,” Such As Running Out Of Ballots. “Separately, Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh during the supervisors’ meeting on Wednesday asked that the supervisors discuss counting all 2024 ballots by hand — which is currently illegal in Arizona. State law requires paper ballots to be scanned and counted by tabulation machines. Pinal County’s elections have been plagued with problems that hand-counting ballots will not solve. In the primary election, the county ran out of ballots or ran short at nearly one-fourth of voting locations on Election Day, causing massive delays for voters across the county.” [Votebeat, 5/25/23]
- Cavanaugh Said He Believed That Voting “Machines May Have Been Part Of The Problem.” “Cavanaugh, who wants to discuss fully hand-counting all 2024 ballots, told Votebeat after the meeting that, despite county officials saying human error caused the mistakes, he wants to have a discussion about hand-counting because he believes machines may have been part of the problem. County officials have not said this, though, explaining that workers were responsible for the incorrect machine settings and unheeded error messages on tabulators that caused the inaccuracies, along with a two-page ballot that made counting difficult.” [Votebeat, 5/25/23]
- After Being Told That Hand Counts Are Less Accurate, Cavanaugh Acknowledged That He’s “Not An Elections Expert.” “‘If we are having [issues with the machines], we should have a discussion about the merits of doing a manual count, or if there are machines that count better than the ones we’ve got,’ Cavanaugh said. Told that counting ballots by hand has proven to be less accurate than machine counting, Cavanaugh said ‘I’m not an elections expert.’ He said he believes that it’s a worthy discussion because he knows workers had problems when running the ballots through the machines.” [Votebeat, 5/25/23]
¶ Hand Counting Ballots In Place Of Using Elections Machines, A Push From Republicans And Elections Conspiracy Theorists Across The Country, Has Proven Wildly Expensive And Inaccurate.
Following The 2020 Election, Election Deniers And Republicans Across The Country Have Pushed For Getting Rid Of Election Machines In Favor Of Hand Counting Ballots. “It's a common refrain from election deniers and the Republicans who support them this election cycle: Get rid of the machines. According to many conspiracy theorists, the 2020 election was stolen by an algorithm, therefore if you take computers out of the voting process you can further secure your election.” [NPR, 10/7/22]
After Counties In Arizona Floated Hand Counting Their Ballots, It Was Discovered The Process Would “Cost More Than A Million Dollars And Leave It With Inaccurate Results.” “An Arizona county has decided not to hand-count its ballots in next year’s elections, after discovering that it would cost more than a million dollars and leave it with inaccurate results.” [NBC News, 8/2/23]
Elections Experts Oppose Hand-Counting Ballots As “It Takes Longer Than Counting With Machines, It’s Less Reliable, And It’s A Logistical Nightmare For U.S. Elections.” “Why do election experts oppose hand-counting ballots? It takes longer than counting with machines, it’s less reliable, and it’s a logistical nightmare for U.S. elections. A growing number of Republican lawmakers have pushed for switching to hand-counts, an argument rooted in false conspiracy theories that voting systems were manipulated to steal the 2020 election.” [AP, 11/3/23]
- The Push For Hand Counting Ballots Is “An Argument Rooted In False Conspiracy Theories That Voting Systems Were Manipulated To Steal The 2020 Election.” “Why do election experts oppose hand-counting ballots? It takes longer than counting with machines, it’s less reliable, and it’s a logistical nightmare for U.S. elections. A growing number of Republican lawmakers have pushed for switching to hand-counts, an argument rooted in false conspiracy theories that voting systems were manipulated to steal the 2020 election.” [AP, 11/3/23]