The practice of hand counting ballots in Arizona has become contentious as the Democratic state attorney general threatened Mohave County with "Criminal prosecution" while a state appeals court has prohibited Cochise County from hand counting all ballots in future elections.
The two counties in Arizona have considered hand counting all ballots in elections, rather than just sample hand recounts after using machines to tabulate ballots.
The board decided against it after the county elections department claimed a full hand count of elections would be unfeasible and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes sent a letter to the supervisors, warning them the would be violating the law by conducting a full hand count.
The board reconsidered the hand count this month after attorney Bryan Blehm, who has represented former Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake in her election lawsuits, sent the supervisors a letter saying that he would represent them at "No cost" in any potential lawsuits that resulted from choosing to hand count, The Arizona Republic reported.
On Monday, the Mohave County Board of Supervisors voted against hand counting ballots in the 2024 elections after Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes sent a letter to them on Sunday, advising against hand counting saying it would violate the law.
"In addition to the above civil remedies, you should be aware that an illegally expanded hand count may result in various felony and misdemeanor criminal penalties. We hope you will choose not to violate the law and thus that it will not be necessary for us to consider whether criminal prosecution is warranted for conducting an illegal hand count." The supervisors voted down the hand count proposal 3-2 on Monday, after a hearing for public comment lasted for more than an hour, according to The Arizona Republic.
While Mohave County decided against hand counting its elections for next year, Cochise County is also facing opposition to hand counting its elections.
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