PHOENIX β Less than a month after publicly declaring ballot harvesting an opportunity for fraud, Secretary of State Michele Reagan offered to do just that for staffers at the governorβs office.
Reagan acknowledged Saturday she told a gubernatorial staffer on Arizonaβs Presidential Preference Election Day, March 22, that she and her staffers were available in case anyone had forgotten to mail in their early ballots. Reagan told Capitol Media Services she does not know whether a staffer, who went to follow up, actually collected any ballots.
Reagan said she did nothing wrong, pointing out that the law she got legislators to approve and Gov. Doug Ducey to sign making βballot harvestingβ a felony does not take effect until later this year.
Anyway, Reagan said it would not matter. She said the law exempts election officials βengaged in official duties,β which she said includes her, even if she is not working at a polling place.
Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, said thatβs stretching it.
βSheβs not doing this as part of her official duties,β he said. βSheβs doing it because sheβs helping out somebody thatβs a friend,β the very thing the legislation will make into a crime, Farley said.
Reagan countered that everything she does is part of her official duties. She said she and others in her office all are certified as election officials, which allows them to be around ballots and have access to the counting equipment.
βWeβre the very same people that went and, prior to the election, checked all the equipment, sealed all the equipment, had them all on live video feeds so that we could watch all the equipment,β she continued. βSo I would say if thereβs a group youβre going to trust it would be the very same people that just verified the equipment as accurate and working properly.β
Reagan was the prime force behind the legislation that will make it a felony to collect voted or unvoted early ballots from another person, with a presumptive sentence of one year in state prison.
Last month, speaking at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference before the bill was approved, Reagan decried the βoutrageous loopholeβ in Arizona law that would make it easy to βcheat.β Reagan, a Republican, said it is βthe radical left who uses ballot harvesting.β
Farley said even if he accepts her argument that she and her staffers can collect ballots around the Executive Tower where she, the governor and other state employees have offices, her actions are no more acceptable.
βThe fact thatβs legal for her and illegal for everyone else makes it just as bad as if she was illegal herself,β he said.
Most telling, to Farley, is that Reagan felt compelled to seek out unmailed early ballots. βIt just points out the fact that there are many situations in which people want to be able to vote. And then the time passes them by and all of a sudden itβs too late and they canβt make it. Why not have somebody else bring it in?β
Farley also said that while proponents of the legislation could cite many instances of people dropping off multiple ballots, there was βzero proof of fraud.β
When the measure was first debated in the House, Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, brushed aside that lack of evidence. βWhat is indisputable is that many people believe itβs happening,β he said in voting for the measure. βAnd I think that matters.β
When the bill was debated in a Senate committee, Sen. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, said he got an email from someone claiming to have evidence of and witnesses to fraud.
βIβve been told the way they do it is they collect the ballots early, they put them in a microwave with a bowl of water, steam them open, take the ballots,β he said. βIf they like the way itβs voted they put them back in. If they donβt like the way itβs voted, they lose that ballot.β
Questioned about what happened, Shooter said it was reported to law enforcement, which reported it to the Secretary of Stateβs Office, which investigated.
βNothing really happened other than the fact that they did a press release, I think, or something to that effect,β he said.
