Arizona is in “uncharted territory” this election season as the state faces a real risk of missing key election deadlines.
A law passed in 2022 lowered the threshold for automatic recounts from one-tenth of a percentage point to half a percentage point.
"We understand transparency, the need for counties to double check and verify voters want that security. Love that. But we just need enough time," said Jennifer Marson, director of the Arizona Association of Counties. "We are absolutely in uncharted territory, especially when it comes to post-general election."
If a recount were to happen, election officials say the turnaround window to conduct the recount and deliver new ballots in time for the general election is too tight, putting military and overseas personnel at risk of not being able to vote.
"Approximately 800, and we have nearly 8,000 men and women who are soldiers and airmen in the Arizona National Guard, so that's about 10% of them at risk of having their vote not counted,” Paul Aguirre, executive director of te Arizona National Guard Association said, adding that voting is a point of pride for those serving. “It's because we're representing the democracy, we're representing this Republic and the right to vote is at its very core the essence of what this great country was founded on."
According to federal law, military and overseas voters have to be sent their ballot 45 days before the general election.
“The county has to wrap up the original primary election, and then there's a bunch of things that have to happen before you could do a recount. And then you have to do the recount. And then you have to audit the recount. And then you can finalize the ballots for the general election, all of which, if you're a military or overseas voter have to get sent out to you 45 days before the general election. So it's not like counties have all the time between the primary and the general to get that done,” Marson said.
As for the general election in the presidential race, a recount could result in an unprecedented situation — one where your vote might not count.
"We have to have Arizona's presidential electors certified by December 11. I'm not sure that anyone knows what exactly what will happen if we miss that deadline. It's never happened in any other state before,” Marson told ABC15.
Election officials and policymakers are working to find a solution that results in an additional 19 days after the primary election and 17 for the general election. One option includes pushing back the date of the August primary.
“There's a couple of things on the table, we can adjust the primary date, for example, we can shorten the window for candidates to prove their ballots, we can make adjustments to when counties and the Secretary of State have to canvass the election,” Marson said. “So there's things that need to work together but we're also open to other ideas, as long as those ideas come with a definitive number of days, that get us to either the 19, or the 17 that we need.”
