Attorney General Mark Brnovich is launching a new legal fight with Secretary of State Katie Hobbs as they spar over what should or shouldn’t be in a new Election Procedures Manual.
But this time he is partnering with the Yavapai County Republican Committee, a move that allows the case to be filed in Yavapai County. And that is resulting in claims by an aide to Hobbs, a Democrat, that the Republican attorney general is not just “colluding’’ with the party but is also “forum shopping,’’ hoping to get a better result than he might in Maricopa County.
Brnovich press aide Katie Conner said the move is justified, however. “Our interests are aligned with the co-plaintiffs in this case,’’ she said.
Conner said Brnovich and the Yavapai Republicans have the same goal: having what they consider to be a lawful Election Procedures Manual.
The lawsuit claims Hobbs has not fulfilled her duty to prepare a new manual for the 2022 election. It asks a judge to order her to write a new one by May 4.
It also demands that Hobbs provide a manual that complies with what Brnovich says it can and cannot contain.
Hobbs, however, points out she did submit a revised manual to Brnovich. The problem, she said, is that he just doesn’t like what she includes and wants her to remove certain provisions.
She suggested that his proposals — and now, the lawsuit — are little more than political posturing by Brnovich, who is in a tight race to become the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate.
Hobbs pointed out that much of what he now says is unacceptable was in the version of the manual approved in 2019 by Brnovich and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. Most of the provisions have been there “for much longer than that,” she said.
“There is no legal basis for these wholesale deletions,’’ Hobbs, a Democratic candidate for governor, wrote to Brnovich in December. “They contravene the purpose of the manual itself, leaving large gaps in election procedures, introducing inconsistency to longstanding processes, and creating unnecessary uncertainty and risk for election officials on the cusp of an election year that will already be challenging due to redistricting.”
Hobbs also chided Brnovich for saying that she has no right to include guidance on voter registration in the manual.
“Voter registration has long been a significant part of the Election Procedures Manual, at least as far back as 2006 when your chief deputy, Joe Kanefield, was the state elections director under then-Secretary of State Jan Brewer,’’ she wrote to him.
Brnovich’s lawsuit also contends the manual illegally says counties can have drop boxes for ballots that are not attended and monitored at all times by election officials.
By filing suit in Yavapai County, Brnovich increased his chances of getting a Republican judge.
Of the seven sitting judges, four have run as Republicans and the other three are more recent appointments by Ducey. And Brnovich got one of those three with the case assigned to John Napper.
The decision to file against Hobbs not in the state’s largest county — and not where both she and Brnovich have offices — did not go unnoticed by an aide to the secretary of state.
“This is another blatantly political move by the attorney general,’’ said aide Murphy Hebert.
“It’s unbelievable that he’s venue shopping and colluding with a political party to sue a state official,’’ Hebert continued. “And it is most definitely the opposite of what needs to happen to ensure free and fair elections this year.’’
