Community leaders discuss ways to improve Arizona elections
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The nationwide general election ended months ago, but conversations about it have not as there is a push for change from the state level to small Arizona communities.
That’s why people from all over the Valley came together on Thursday morning to talk about the future of our elections at a town hall forum at Gateway Community College’s Washington Campus.
The town hall included looking at reports, evaluating the electoral landscape, seeing how our election system is working, and what changes can be considered.
“It’s critical to our future as a state and a country to figure out how to move forward to ensure we have free and fair elections, the processes are trusted, and that citizens, civic and business leaders are all a part of creating those solutions,” said Tara Jackson, the president of Arizona Town Hall.
Over the last four years, Maricopa County spent millions of dollars to improve election security and processes. But Jackson doesn’t think that’s enough.
“One thing is clear, there is always room for improvements,” she said.
In the November election, more than 260,000 early ballots were returned on Election Day. That caused some delays in processing.
“I do think that we obviously could improve that,” said Jack Sellers, former chairman for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Recently, the Arizona House of Representatives passed a bill aimed to speed up the counting process by requiring voters to return their early ballots the Friday before Election Day.
“I really don’t think that is a bad way to move forward to ensure we have quicker results. It’s just a matter of educating people, so they know what the process really is,” Sellers said.
But others, including Gov. Katie Hobbs, worry that the bill could hinder voters.
“If your goal is to just get elections done and over with, there might be different things that come into play. You want to provide people with as many opportunities to drop their vote off as possible,” Jackson said.
As conversations continue, the main goal of this forum was to come together, share ideas, educate, and work toward a better future for elections.
“We can do better, and we can strengthen our own dialogues just by having conversations and assuming the best between neighbors,” said John Fees, co-founder of Leadership Now Arizona.
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