(602) 542-4285
Secretary Reagan’s
Statement on the PPE
“The issues that arose with the amount of time voters
had to stand in line, confusion surrounding eligibility and other issues are
completely unacceptable and my office will launch a full-scale
statewide review of county election policies and procedures surrounding
yesterday’s election.
“What happened to Maricopa
County voters yesterday was awful. I can honestly say that as of right now we
have no explanation why county election officials decided to reduce the number
of polling places down to only 60 locations. While each individual county makes
their own decisions, I need to make sure yesterday's polling place upheaval
doesn't happen at our next statewide election on May 17th.
Or worse, the
presidential general election in November when thousands more new voters will be
casting ballots for the first time.
“Yesterday, I spent all day trying to help voters.
Today, I have refocused my energy on finding out the what and why of the county
decisions that were made that led to severe polling delays. Election officials
are constantly looking for ways to improve. If we find that the laws need to
change, we will lead the charge.
“In fact, next week I will announce a series of
bipartisan public hearings in the areas most effected by the problems at the
polls. Our office will generate an action report on the outcome of those
hearings and present it as a part of the next Election Procedures Manual meeting
with all fifteen county election officials in attendance.
“To help alleviate concerns with provisional or early
ballots, we’ve also created an online tracking tool (www.voter.azsos.gov) where voters
can find out when their ballot was processed and counted.
“I woke up at 3 am yesterday morning so excited for the
election and full of hope for the people who were voting. I feel awful that
some of them may have given up and gone home or had to go back to work. Voters
deserve so much better and government should be held
accountable.”
