Van's Views

AZ SOS & Maricopa Co. Recorder Rigging AZ Elections?

This Cartoon is True Only When We Can Trust the Process Isn’t Rigged!

*This Comment came in a Campaign Email from Helen Purcell (Maricopa County Recorder). The following Statement is One of Five Listed under the Heading of ACCOMPLISHED, ( Helping to bring about Early Voting in Arizona which has become the most important tool in winning elections). Paid for by Purcell in 2016

*It’s nice to know that the Early Voting system wasn’t set up for the Voters but for the Parties to have a Tool to Win Elections. We’ve completed the research on the Elections systems and the SOS Manual used by All AZ County Recorders which instructs them to violate AZ State Statutes and the Intent of the Law to give All Voters the same Information, and thereby assuring All Candidates who follow the State Statutes the same Access to the Voters, at present isn’t happening.

We’re also looking into the Violation of Ballot Harvesting which Purcell allowed and had announced on ABC Monday Evenings News and perhaps others, that it’s alright to bring them in and drop them off at the Polls, Directly Violating AZ Law and the Courts approval of that Law. County Recorder Purcell allowing Ballots to be dropped off calls into question the Validity of the General Election, and may explain some of the Results. We hope you’ll find this an interesting read and realize that if the conclusions drawn and statements made are correct this leaves the Entire Elections Process open to being Challenged by Any and All Voters as well as Candidates and Parties or Groups.

*We’ve delivered the following facts to SOSs’, Maricopa County Supervisors’ & County Recorders’ Offices with no response.

Documents Delivered

State Sponsored Election Fraud with Official Write-In Candidates.

Arizona Revised Statutes v. SOS Election Procedures.

Arizona statutes provide for an impartial and uniform election process. Official Write-In Candidates are a part of that process, with valid philosophical and practical reasons for inclusion in our election system.  But, in spite of clear legislative intent, the process has been biased against them; one statute is used to negate others, denying write-in candidates impartiality and uniformity.

With Arizona’s statutory early voting system, it is crucial to clarify the effect of establishing early ballot voters’ mailing address locations as their lawful early polling places. Contracting with voters who request early ballots, and delivering them via the U.S. Mail, the State is­ declaring and establishing voters’ addresses as official “polling places.”

Therefore, every instructional or informative notice—other than site-specific directions—is required by law to be provided to every elector who chooses to contract with the State to let his or her residence to the State to utilize as an early voting location or polling place.

When required instruction or information is deliberately left-out of ballot materials supplied to approximately 80% of voters by mail, it is prima facie evidence of “fixing” the election!

Arizona law establishes two official candidate classes eligible for election to public office by qualified electors. The State enters legal contracts with official write-in and nominating petition-qualified candidates. By contract, both classes are equally qualified for election pursuant to Statute.

The statutory requirements for both write-in candidates and those submitting nominating petitions to run for election are identical, except write-ins are required to submit nomination papers in lieu of nominating petitions signed by electors.

Therefore, write-in candidates who meet statutory requirements are lawfully accepted as Official Write-In Candidates and are equally eligible to serve in elective office as any opponents who submit nominating petitions.

The State of Arizona accepts the write-in nomination paper and other documents as the contract that acknowledges the candidate’s legal right to have votes cast, and counted in the election results.

The resultant contract gives write-ins legal status equal to ballot-qualified candidates in every respect other than the printing of names on the ballot.

The statutes codify this contract.

However, in spite of clear legislative intent to honor the Official Write-In Candidate Contract and conduct uniform and impartial elections implicit in the state constitution and statutes, (there is a blatant pattern of conduct intended to preclude any write-in candidate ever winning election in Arizona).

This conduct has included biased and non-uniform procedures and instructions that violate the law, which is in and of itself a violation of the law.

The pattern has been continued through the 2016 Election Cycle, as public officers and election officials act pursuant to rules that violate statutes; effecting biased and non-uniform procedures for early voting and voting. At least some of these are specific to voter notification of Official Write-In Candidates.

A.R.S. §16-452(A&B) requires the Secretary of State to prescribe rules in an instructions and procedures manual for the conduct of elections in the State “prior to each election” clearly intended to incorporate any changes to the statutes. (For the 2016 elections, SOS Reagan refused to prepare and issue the prescribed manual). Whether or not the 2014 manual in-use conformed to election law in 2014, it does not conform to statutes in effect for 2016 elections.

Under threat of criminal prosecution, pursuant to 16-452(C), the county recorders, supervisors and all elections officials continue to implement unlawful rules. They are violating the State Constitution, other statutes, and at a minimum, state contracts with official write-in candidates.

Under threat of criminal prosecution, pursuant to 16-452(C), the county recorders, supervisors and all elections officials continue to implement unlawful rules. They are violating the State Constitution, other statutes, and at a minimum, state contracts with official write-in candidates.

Following are pertinent excerpts from the current 2014, 16-452 procedures and instructions manual, and the statutes cited therein upon which the procedures are purported to be based, along with observations set-apart by brackets. (The 52nd Legislature did amend state election law in 2015 & 2016.)

Excerpts from SOS Manual and cited statutes:

[Page 4]

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

The Secretary of State’s Election Procedures Manual is required by ARS § 16-452.

*The procedures contained in this manual were developed after consultation with each County Board of Supervisors or officer in charge of elections and have been approved by the Governor and the Attorney General. A violation of any of the provisions of this Election Procedures Manual is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

[ARS § 16-452(C)]

ARS § 16-449 requires the Secretary of State to include procedures for:

  • testing the logic and accuracy of electronic ballot tabulating systems
  • handling ballots, scanning ballots, and any other matter necessary to ensure the maximum degree of correctness, impartiality and uniformity in the administration of an electronic ballot tabulating system.
  • 16-452. Rules; instructions and procedures manual;
  • A… the Secretary of State shall proscribe rules to achieve and maintain the maximum degree of correctness, impartiality, uniformity and efficiency on the procedures for early voting and voting, and of producing, distributing, collecting, counting, tabulating and storing ballots.
  • C. A person who violates any rule adopted pursuant to this section is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor.
  • CHAPTER 3 – EARLY VOTING [Page 49]
  • “Vote by Mail” Elections
  • This section is for Vote by Mail Elections only and does NOT provide for “early voting,” but it adds the following sentence: Additional inserts, including lists of official write-in candidates shall not be allowed with the official early ballot.”
  • There is no other reference to early ballots for this type election. It is evident that the sentence was added without an attempt to conform it to the subject Vote by Mail Elections statute!  So, the cited statutes, 16-225 & -227 do NOT address “Additional inserts” nor write-in candidate lists!
  • Mailing the Affidavit and Early Ballot [Page 56]
  • The Recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall mail the official early ballot, printed instructions, a secrecy envelope/sleeve (if the county chooses to use a secrecy envelope or sleeve) and a return envelope bearing a printed ballot affidavit as described in ARS § 16-547 to the requesting elector:
  • Only official election materials as determined by the County Recorder shall be allowed as inserts with the official early ballot. Additional inserts, including lists of official write-in candidates, shall not be allowed with the official early ballot
  • [The preceding prescription to leave out the Write-In Candidate List Directly Violates the LAW.]
  • [ARS § 16-542] cited statute: 16-542. Request for ballot; civil penalties; violation; classification:
  • The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall mail the early ballot and the envelope for its return postage prepaid to the address provided by the requesting elector…
  • On-Site Early Voting [Pages 56-57]
  • The County Recorder may establish early voting locations: At these locations, voters may cast early ballots beginning the same day that a county begins to send out the early ballots, . . . A Notice of Withdrawal and Notice of Official Write-In Candidates shall be posted at all on-site early voting locations and promptly updated as necessary. [Updates would only apply to official write-in candidates if they withdrew!
  • [ARS §§ 16-246(C), 16-343(G) & 16-542(A)] cited statutes: 16-246(C). Early balloting; satellite locations; additional procedures [This statute only applies to presidential preference elections. Paragraph C provides for on-site early voting locations for these particular elections, not all elections, so, why is it cited here when -542(A) covers all elections?]
  • 16-343(G). Filling vacancy caused by death or incapacity or withdrawal of candidate.
  • 1. The inspectors shall post the notice of vacancy in the same manner as posting official write-in candidates [This procedure is most often not followed, as the List/Notice is not posted conspicuously, at times is not posted at all, and voters are not informed by poll workers unless the voter asks for the Notice/List]. In the case of a withdrawal of a candidate that occurs after the printing of official ballots, the inspectors shall post the notice of withdrawal in a conspicuous location in each polling place. Notice of withdrawal shall also be posted at all early voting locations and shall be made available to early voters [by mail] by providing with the early ballot instructions a website address at which prompt updates to information regarding write-in and withdrawn candidates is available.
  • This statute only applies to a candidate vacancy, not to the List delivered by the BOS that has been produced from the Notice of Official Write-In Candidates delivered to it by the SOS.
  • This is the ONLY statute that prescribes a website address with updates to “available” “information regarding write-in and withdrawn candidates.”
  • It does not prescribe the creation of a website address to meet the intent of the 16-312 prescription for posting “the notice of official write-in candidates in a conspicuous place within the polling place” and in early voting locations, as prescribed earlier in the same sentence of the cited 16-343(G); which must be applied to the early ballot mailed to the elector’s State-contracted early polling place!
  • The ONLY reason the “list” or “notice” of official write-in candidates would require any update after its official generation by the SOS would be if a write-in candidate withdrew or was otherwise disqualified to run for office! Therefore, such write-in candidate being “official,” this statute erroneously separates said candidate from other official candidates by inserting the reference to “information regarding write-in and Please see further treatment of this “website” phrase below.]
  • 16-542. Request for ballot; civil penalties; violation; classification
  • A. The county recorder may establish on-site early voting locations at the recorder’s office, which shall be open and available for use beginning the same day that a county begins to send out the early ballots.
  • The County Recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall mail Early Ballot and the envelope for its’ return postage paid.
  • Instructions to Early Voters [Pages 58-59]
  • [Mail Ballot]
  • The County Recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall supply printed instructionsboth in English and Spanish to early voters that direct them to sign the affidavit, mark the ballot and return both in the enclosed self-addressed envelope. The early ballot instructions shall include a web site address at which information regarding official write-in candidates and withdrawn candidates for all jurisdictions on the ballot is available.
  • [The preceding sentence is taken from 16-343(G) and violates 16-312(E) as applied here to early voting instructions. -312(E) prescribes posting of the Notice of Official Write-In Candidates at the polling place, which must be extrapolated to include early ballots mailed to voters at their State-contracted personal polling place!  See below, also.]
  • [ARS § 16-547(C) and 42 U.S.C. § 15482] cited statutes: **16-547. Ballot affidavit;
  • C. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall supply printed instructions to early voters that direct them to sign the affidavit, mark the ballot and return both in the enclosed self-addressed envelope that complies with section 16-545. The instructions shall include the following statement: In order to be valid and counted, the ballot and affidavit must be delivered…
  • 16-545. Early ballot.
  • A. The Early Ballot shall be one prepared for use in the precinct in which the applicant resides and… The ballot shall be identical with the regular official ballots, except that it shall have printed or stamped on it “early”.
  • [**16-547(C) Does not prescribe instructions to include a web site address for any purpose, nor prescribe nor prohibit any instructions regarding Official Write-In Candidates or withdrawn candidates!
  • Further, it is clear that the intent of 16-312 is to acknowledge a candidate’s legal right to run for office as an official write-in candidate fully entitled to receive votes and win, if the voters choose to elect him or her!
  • As stated above, we believe this clear intent must also demand the Notice of Official Write-In Candidates be included in the Early Voters Mail-In Ballot Package as well because it is mailed to the voter’s State-contracted polling place; because the intent of 16-312 is to acknowledge the candidate’s legal right to run as an official write-in candidate, AND the voters’ legal right to be fully informed of official write-in candidates for whom they may cast their votes!
  • There can be NO lawful requirement for Arizona voters to purchase or borrow a computer or other device with which to access the Internet in order to find information to which they are lawfully entitled.
  • By prohibiting the inclusion of the list of official write-in candidates with the early ballot mailed to voters, the SOS has also violated at least 16-312, and -452, by insuring that elections will not meet the maximum degree of correctness, impartiality and uniformity required by 16-452.
  • Pursuant to 16-452, to comply with the requirement for “the maximum degree of correctness, impartiality, uniformity and efficiency,” early ballot mailings MUST include the list of official write-in candidates eligible for votes in the precinct the ballot covers:
  • 16-452. Rules; instructions and procedures manual;…
  • A… the Secretary of State shall prescribe rules to achieve and maintain the maximum degree of correctness, impartiality, uniformity and efficiency on the procedures for early voting and voting, and of producing, distributing, collecting, counting, tabulating and storing ballots…
  • [It must also include a notice of vacancies from withdrawals occurring after the printing of the ballots. See below, and 16-343(G), above.]
  • The SOS adding proscriptions against including lists of official write-in candidates to the instructions and procedures manual, and adding a prescription to include a web site address requiring early voters to go to a web site for “information” on official write-in candidates and withdrawn candidates is deliberate, unlawful and should constitute a criminal offense.
  • The Arizona Constitution, Article II. §21, guarantees free and equal elections with free exercise of the right of suffrage. With A.R.S. §16-452 & -312, the legislature clearly intended to comply with this section when providing for the lawful exercise of a citizen’s right to run for office as a write-in candidate in a free and equal election, and for all voters to freely exercise the right of suffrage through equal access to the names of all official candidates qualified to receive and have votes counted toward election pursuant to Article VII. §7.
  • The expansion of election procedures to include early voting by mail ballot transforms the voter’s address location into his official State-contracted polling place. The statutes do not—and can not—prescribe denial of voters’ right to be given the Notice (or List) of Official (or Eligible) Write-In Candidates. The voters have lawfully entered into contracts with the State of Arizona to let their address locations to the State as their official polling places by requesting early ballots be delivered to them via U.S. Mail.
  • The SOS can not add to the statutes a decree that lists of official write-in candidates shall not be allowed with the official early ballot.
  • Nor can the SOS decree that voters be required to access a web site address in order to ferret – out the names of official write-in candidates to which they are entitled with their ballot.
  • Election officials are required to post the Notice of Official Write-In Candidates and the Notice of Withdrawn Candidates conspicuously for Voters to see at early voting locations and polling places.
  • Therefore, by contracting with voters to mail their ballots to their addresses, the county recorder or other election official in charge of mailing early ballots must include these notices with each early ballot.]
  • Election Day [Page 132]
  • Setting Up the Polling Place
  • The members of the election board shall:
  • Post the list of official write-in candidates, if applicable, in a conspicuous location
  • Post a notice of: Any vacancies due to voluntary or involuntary withdrawals that occurred after the printing of ballots, and
  • Any vacancies due to the death or incapacity of a candidate and that any votes cast for that candidate will be tabulated.
  • CHAPTER 12 – PROCEDURE FOR PRECINCT HAND COUNT AND EARLY BALLOT AUDIT [Page 189]
  • For each candidate and issue contest for which the Secretary of State is the filing officer, the County Officer shall (1) conduct a hand count . . . of at least two per cent . . .
  • [ARS §-602(B), 16-602(G) & 16-663(B)]
  • II. Definitions
  • “Contested Race” shall mean a race where there are more candidates than positions available.
  • VI. Selection of Races to Be Counted in the Precinct Hand Count and Early Ballot Audit [ARS § 16-602(B)]
  • A write-in candidacy in a race does not constitute a contested race.
  • 16-602. B. . . . 4. For the purposes of this section, a write-in candidacy in a race does not constitute a contested race.
  • [This statute directly violates the clear legislative intent and effect of 16-452 requiring uniformity and impartiality, and of providing for write-in candidate qualification, that meet the constitutional intent of access to free and equal elections.The Hand Count is conducted to test the electronic voting machine or tabulator. By excluding the write-in ballots, there is no verification that the equipment finds and sorts all write-in ballots from the rest!]
  • Please see the following page for the representative 2014 Schedule of Events regarding required Official Write-In Candidate events. There being no 2016 SOS manual, there was no such schedule provided for 2016.
  • CHAPTER 15 – SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
  • [This 2014 Schedule of Events confirms that there is no attempt to provide the Notice of Official Write-In Candidates, or the Notice of Withdrawn Candidates to early mail ballot voters.]
  • 7/17/2014 PE-40 SOS Deadline for Write-in Candidate Nomination Papers for Primary Election at 5:00 p.m. 16-312(B)
  • 7/18/2014 PE-39 SOS Deliver Notice of Write-in Candidates Filing Nomination Papers 16-312
  • 7/18/2014 PE-39 BOS Include List of Eligible Write-in Candidates in Supplies for Precinct Inspectors 16-312(C)
  • 7/31/2014 PE-26 REC Begin Early Voting for Primary Election 16-542(C)
  • 7/31/2014 PE-26 [REC] Mail Early Ballots to voters on permanent early voting list 16-544(F)
  • 8/25/2014 PE-1 BOS Deliver Polling Place Supplies 16-404, 16- 447(D), 16-511*
  • 8/25/2014 PE-1 BOS Deliver List of Qualified Write-in Candidates to Inspector to be Posted Election Day in Polling Place 16-312*
  • 8/26/2014 PE ALL August 26, 2014 Primary Election 16-201
  • General Election:
  • 9/26/2014 GE-39 BOS Include List of Eligible Write-in Candidates in Supplies for Precinct Inspectors 16-312
  • 9/26/2014 GE-39 SOS Deliver Notice of Write-in Candidates Filing Nomination Papers 16-312
  • 10/9/2014 GE-26 REC Mail Early Ballots to voters on permanent early voting list 16-544(F)
  • 11/3/2014 GE-1 BOS Deliver Polling Place Supplies 16-404, 16- 447(D), 16-511*
  • 11/3/2014 GE-1 BOS Deliver List of Qualified Write-In Candidates to Inspector to be Posted Election Day in Polling Place
  • Qualified Electors of the State of Arizona did the Research and Delivered it to the above mentioned State & County Offices for a response and received none. They realize full well that many Voters don’t know or even care about this process, however there’s more to come and the misuse of the system placed into law by so called impartial office holders to effect the desired results in Our Election Process should and hopefully will concern all. There will be More on AZs’ Elections Process by this group of concerned citizens as we should all be, this system is the only Method we have to control those in office or be Controlled by Them and we must be able to trust both the process and those in charge of carrying it out, so far the lack of response by those in office shows to us they can’t be trusted to do so and are more concerned with Winning as Recorder Purcell stated than in following the laws. ( Time to Drain the Political Swamps in AZ Politics ).

In Closing We believe Election Cycles are Critical for Our Nation & States as to whether we sink deeper into a Socialistic Nation or Restore Ourselves to a True Republic form of Government. The choice is clear, never support those voting against or compromising the US Constitution and Our Freedoms, We believe that’s actually what most of you are hoping for and the Elite Power Brokers are afraid of: (Time to Drain All Political Swamps)…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to toolbar