New lawsuit filed over long lines on election day

PHOENIX — A new lawsuit filed Thursday is rebutting claims by Secretary of State Michele Reagan that she bore no blame or responsibility for the fiasco during the presidential preference election.

The claim filed in Maricopa County Superior Court details the problems that resulted in people standing in line for up to five hours during the March 22 election.

Attorneys for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and other law firms said the blame can be laid at the feet of County Recorder Helen Purcell and the county board of supervisors who approved only 60 polling places.

But the lawsuit also seeks to undermine Reagan’s claim that she had no control over the county’s decision.

It says state law requires the secretary of state to provide through her procedures manual “the maximum allowable wait time for any election.” And the lawsuit says that manual sets the maximum allowable wait time at one hour.

Another section of election law requires the secretary of state to “provide for a method to reduce voter wait time at the polls in the primary and general elections.” It specifically requires her to consider the number of ballots voted in prior elections, the number of people who voted early, and the number of election board members and clerks as well as the number of rosters at each polling place “that will reduce voter wait time at the polls.”

The section of law being quoted specifically refers to elections held on certain specified dates. But the lawyers contend those requirements extend to the presidential preference election.

An aide to Reagan said she had no immediate comment, saying her elections staff will review the lawsuit after they are formally served.

But she has repeatedly insisted that she had no legal role to play in the decision by Purcell, ratified by the county supervisors, to have only 60 polling locations. Reagan said she had no ability to override that conclusion.

Reagan does not dispute that she knew the county had set up only 60 centralized polling locations for the presidential primary, a race which had both Republican and Democrat contests. That compares with about 200 in 2012, when there was only a Republican primary, and more than 400 in 2008 when both major parties had contested presidential primaries.

The lawsuit does not let Purcell off the hook.

Aside from the decision to have just 60 polling places, it says Arizona law requires election marshals to check wait times throughout the day. And if the wait is 30 minutes or more, the marshal must inform the officer in charge of elections and “shall request additional voting machines, voting booths and board workers, as appropriate.”

The attorneys noted the publicity throughout the day on March 22 of the long lines, saying none of this should have been a surprise to Purcell.