A Chandler lawyer on Tuesday asked Attorney General Mark Brnovich to seek a court order postponing the May 17 special election because hundreds of thousands of voters didn't receive their election guides in time.
Attorney Tom Ryan delivered a letter to Brnovich laying out the case for a delay. The letter said election law clearly says publicity pamphlets explaining ballot measures must be delivered before early voting begins. He also noted that changes to election law pushed by Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan and signed by Gov. Doug Ducey in 2015 require "strict compliance" of election laws covering initiatives and referendums.
Reagan's office acknowledges that more than 200,000 households with multiple voters in all but Pima and Maricopa counties didn't get the guides on time. But her spokesman, Matt Roberts, said there's no reason to delay the election.
Brnovich will review the letter and decide as early as Wednesday how to proceed, spokeswoman Mia Garcia said.
Ryan said he hopes Brnovich exercises his power and immediately petitions the Superior Court for an injunction delaying the election. Ryan said the August primary or November general election are two available election dates.
"My money's on Mark Brnovich -- he's been a real straight shooter in this office," Ryan said. "And I know this is a politically difficult think to be laying on his table right now, but the plain fact of the matter is it's not my fault, it's not Mark Brnovich's fault if he has to proceed on this."
Ryan placed the blame squarely on Reagan, saying her office was responsible.
Reagan spokesman Matt Roberts said the pamphlets should have reached voters 10 days before early voting started on April 20 and blamed a private vendor for the problem. By the time the mistake was discovered and new voter guides mailed and received, it was May 6.
More than 400,000 voters were without the voter guides, which provide the detailed language of the propositions and arguments for and against the measures, for more than two weeks after they received their ballots. Maricopa and Pima county voters weren't affected because those counties use different computer systems. Those affected were in households with more than one voter, and 213,000 pamphlets were mailed to those homes after the problem was discovered.
Roberts said there's no reason to delay the election.
"Right now, there's nothing in statute that allows us to delay the election," Roberts said. "And secondarily, we're taking all the steps we can to make sure all the folks that should have gotten a publicity pamphlet did indeed get one."
Voters are being asked in Proposition 123 to boost withdrawals from the state land trust to fund education and in Proposition 124 to overhaul the state police and firefighter pension system. The campaign manager for the Yes on Proposition 123 campaign said the measure is designed to get money to schools quickly and any delay will make them wait.
"While we are disappointed with the circumstance, we believe that with well over half a million votes cast, we should press on with the election," campaign manager J.P. Twist said in a statement.
