Statement from Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer

PHOENIX - Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer today released a statement following the introduction of S.B. 1471, sponsored by Senator John Kavanagh.

“Smart legislation is key to improving Arizona’s elections and voters’ trust,” said Recorder Richer. “S.B. 1471 proposes a 'man vs. machine' test by comparing a machine count of ballots with a bipartisan hand-count of the same ballots. This legislation will build confidence in our election system by showing that machine tabulation is highly accurate, free of bias and fast. Thanks to Senator Kavanagh for this good idea.”

S.B. 1471 proposes creating “test decks” of ballots from four random, high-turnout precincts that contain all the races from the 2022 general election. All races of these ballots will be hand-counted by a team of Republicans and Democrats, and they will also go through a tabulator. This information will be used to look at the amount of time a hand-count on a larger scale may take and the accuracy of that count. The information will be provided to the governor, senate president, house speaker and the county recorder, along with a copy for the secretary of state. More information can be found here.

Earlier this month, Recorder Richer released an Arizona Election Law Reform proposal to improve election administration in Maricopa and the entire state. The Recorder and his office are working closely with lawmakers, community partners and voters to help implement smart and innovative reform to strengthen elections and election integrity in the fast-growing Maricopa County.

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Read the S.B. 1471 legislation here.

Read Recorder Richer's Election Law Reform Proposals here.

ABOUT US

The Maricopa County Recorder's Office is responsible for recording all documents required by law and making them available for public record. In August of 1999, the department began accepting documents electronically, which now constitutes over 92 percent of all filings. Today, the Recorder’s Office remains at the forefront of e-government, with nearly 200 million images available for viewing at any of our office locations as well as on the Internet—dating back to our first recording on June 5, 1871.

Additionally, the Recorder’s Office oversees the voter registration process, documentation, and administration for the County’s 2.4 million voters. It also plays a management role in overseeing early voting, all mail elections, and other election processes and administration. We are proud of the many awards and recognitions we have received while strengthening democracy and are considered by many to be the premier recording office and elections department in the country.