PHOENIX — State senators quashed a bid to give Attorney General Mark Brnovich more power to investigate elections.
Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale, voted with Democrats on Monday against Senate Bill 1475. That left the measure without the necessary 16 votes for approval.
The decision came despite a last-ditch plea by Sen. Kelly Townsend, R-Apache Junction, who urged fellow Republicans to back what she said the Republican attorney general wants.
“The language was written by the Attorney General’s Office, requested by, and is important to be put into statute,’’ she said.
Boyer, however, said the measure is flawed.
Existing law gives the attorney general the authority to enforce laws for statewide elections, including those for state officials, lawmakers, appellate court judges and statewide ballot measures. SB 1475 would have added to that elections for Congress members and for choosing presidential electors.
Boyer said that violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which puts certain federal issues beyond the reach of state laws and regulation.
For example, the state cannot impose term limits on members of Congress.
“The state attorney general doesn’t have any authority over federally elected officials,’’ Boyer said, calling the proposal a”massive power shift.’’
There are other problems with the measure, he added. Boyer pointed out it would give the attorney general the power to write “investigative demands’’ — essentially administrative subpoenas — to any person in regards to any investigation of violation of election laws. It also would permit the attorney general to issue court-enforceable subpoenas to people outside of Arizona.
And it would permit the AG to examine people under oath, inspect, study or copy “any account, book computer, document, minutes, paper, recording or record.’’
“The language is broad enough to loop in anybody they want, with no probable cause requirements,’’ Boyer said.
Also, when SB 1475 first came to the Senate floor for debate, Townsend expanded its scope, a move that would have given every county attorney the same powers.
Brnovich is running for U.S. Senate. A spokeswoman for his office sought to put some distance between him and the legislation, despite what Townsend said was its authorship.
“While we supported the bill, it is what it is,’’ said Katie Conner. “We will continue to do everything we can to protect the integrity of our elections.’’
Townsend made a procedural maneuver that would allow her to try to resurrect the measure later this legislative session. But with the 30-member Senate having only 16 Republicans, that move would be futile unless she can convince Boyer to change his mind.
Townsend had no better luck Monday with SB 1478, another of her election bills.
An outgrowth of what became known as “Sharpie-gate,’’ it would have barred county supervisors from requiring the use of a specific kind of marker on ballots.
There were claims during the 2020 election that Sharpies made marks on the reverse side of ballots that either could have affected the races being tallied or resulted in the ballot not being counted.
Maricopa County officials, who specifically provided Sharpies at polling places, said that was the kind of pen recommended, because the ink dries fast and doesn’t gum up counting machines.
And even Brnovich, after conducting a review, concluded here was no basis to believe ballots had been left uncounted based on a bleed-through problem.
