PHOENIX β A fight playing out between the Arizona Democratic Party and Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell highlights a problem for those who wait until the last minute to deposit their early ballots: They may not get counted.
Purcell is discarding the envelopes containing about 1,400 ballots received Monday and Tuesday for which her staffers could not immediately match the signature on the outside with the signature on file.
Sheβs not alone: state Elections Director Eric Spencer said thatβs the same policy followed by officials in 14 of the stateβs 15 counties.
Only Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez said she makes a specific effort to try to find out if every early ballot received is legitimate.
Spencer Scharff, the Democratsβ voter-protection director, is making a last-minute push to persuade Purcell to change her mind.
He said thatβs whatβs specifically required by the official state Election Procedures Manual.
But Elizabeth Bartholomew, an aide to Purcell, said there is other verbiage in the manual that says thatβs what county recorders must do βif time permits.β
And even Rodriguez acknowledged the wording in the manual is βvague.β
It might end up being resolved by a federal judge.
Leonard Clark, a self-proclaimed activist and write-in candidate in last weekβs election for U.S. Senate, filed suit Tuesday asking Magistrate D. Thomas Ferraro to declare the discards unconstitutional.
Clark, representing himself, said it violates the Equal Rights Amendment because the votes of some people with questioned signatures are counted while others are summarily rejected.
At the heart of the fight are the early ballots that voters can have mailed to their homes. They fill them out and then put them into a sealed envelope that they have to sign.
That envelope also contains a place for a phone number for county officials to call if they have a question about the ballot, including if the signatures appear not to match.
The Election Procedures Manual says if the recorder is not satisfied the signature on the envelope was made by the registered voter, he or she βshall make a reasonable and meaningful attempt to contact the early voter.β
Bartholomew, however, cites another section of the manual that says if there is a determination the signatures do not match, βthe county recorder, if time permits, may attempt to contact the voter to ascertain whether the voter actually voted the early ballot and any reason why the signatures do not match.β
βIf we have received early ballots before Election Day, we make a reasonable and meaningful attempt to contact the voter if there is any issue with their signature up until 7 p.m. on Election Day,β Bartholomew said.
βIf it is after Election Day, there is not much we can do,β she continued.
Bartholomew said there is nothing in either state law or the election manual that allows for anything to happen after polls close.
Rodriguez, however, said thatβs not true.
βIf we question any signatures we call them, we text them,β she said of ballots received by her office. βWe attempt to rectify the signatures as best as you can.β
Rodriguez said her office gives voters until 5 p.m. Friday to resolve the issue. That way she treats all early ballots the same, whether received days before the polls close or collected at individual polling places during the day and sent to her office after 7 p.m.
Spencer, however, said that creates a different problem.
βShe treats all her voters equally,β he said.
βBut since she is the only county recorder in Arizona that allowed mismatched (or) missing signatures to be cured after Election Day, her go-it-alone policy has created a tremendous equal-protection problem across the state,β Spencer continued.
βWhile her motives are no doubt admirable, she has created a situation where the ability for oneβs early ballot to count is, at least in part, dependent on where you live in Arizona.β
