| 63 | | - | Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona: Section 1. Title 16, chapter 4, article 8, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 16-546, to read: START_STATUTE16-546. Signature verification; political party observers; challenge review; violation; classification A. For the avoidance of doubt and notwithstanding any other law, the county recorder and county officer in charge of elections shall allow representatives of the two largest political parties entitled to continued representation on the ballot to observe each stage of the signature verification process for early, provisional and conditional provisional ballots. B. For the avoidance of doubt, observers shall be allowed to observe from a distance of six feet so that they can reasonably, comfortably and clearly view the contents of any screens or monitors that are used to display information or other materials related to signature verification, including observers who are in an area separate from the area where signature VERIFICATION is occurring and who are observing the signature verification process by viewing it on a screen or other similar monitor. For any election workers who are conducting signature verification activities while working from home, observers shall not be allowed to observe in the election worker's home. C. Observers prescribed by this SECTION shall not note, transcribe or otherwise hold or DISCLOSE any voter's personal identifying information, including the voter's month and day of birth, driver license number, nonoperating IDENTIFICATION LICENSE number, father's name, mother's MAIDEN name and state and county of birth, the records that contain a voter's signature and the voter's email address. D. FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, THE COUNTY RECORDER AND COUNTY OFFICER IN CHARGE OF ELECTIONS SHALL MAINTAIN ELECTION BOARD WORKER AND EMPLOYEE DOCUMENTATION IN THE FORM OF A LOG AT EACH STAGE OF THE SIGNATURE AND AFFIDAVIT VERIFICATION PROCESS BY ALL ELECTION BOARD WORKERS AND EMPLOYEES INVOLVED IN EACH PHASE OF REVIEW AND SHALL PROVIDE FOR FULL ACCOUNTING AND DISCLOSURE OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SIGNATURE VERIFICATIONS PERFORMED BY EACH ELECTION BOARD WORKER AND EMPLOYEE INCLUDING THE DETERMINATION MADE BY EACH ELECTION BOARD WORKER AND EMPLOYEE INCLUDING, THE NAME OF THE ELECTION BOARD WORKER WHO CONDUCTED THE SIGNATURE VERIFICATION, THE DATE THE REVIEW WAS CONDUCTED, THE BATCH NUMBERS AND THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SIGNATURE VERIFICATIONS PERFORMED AND THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DETERMINATIONS IN EACH CATEGORY, ACCEPTED, REJECTED, SENT FOR FURTHER REVIEW, AND THE FINAL DETERMINATION MADE AT SUBSEQUENT PHASES OR LEVELS OF REVIEW. THE COUNTY RECORDER AND COUNTY OFFICER IN CHARGE OF ELECTIONS SHALL MAINTAIN COMPLETE LOGS OF ALL SIGNATURE VERIFICATIONS PROCESSED DAILY AND THESE MUST BE MADE AVAILABLE DAILY TO ANY POLITICAL PARTY AND ALL CANDIDATES ON REQUEST. E. A person who violates this section is guilty of a class 5 felony. END_STATUTE |
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| 63 | + | Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona: Section 1. Title 16, chapter 4, article 8, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 16-546, to read: START_STATUTE16-546. Signature verification; political party observers; challenge review; violation; classification A. For the avoidance of doubt and notwithstanding any other law, the county recorder and county officer in charge of elections shall allow representatives of the two largest political parties entitled to continued representation on the ballot to observe each stage of the signature verification process for early, provisional and conditional provisional ballots. B. For the avoidance of doubt, observers shall be allowed to observe from a distance at which they can reasonably and comfortably view the contents of any screens or monitors that are used to display information or other materials related to signature verification. C. For the avoidance of doubt, an observer may challenge ballot affidavit envelopes that appear to not meet signature standards. Challenged ballot affidavit envelopes must remain unopened and the original ballot affidavit envelope must be sent for review to a bipartisan challenge review board that is appointed by the two largest political parties. The challenge review board must have access to all control signatures in the voter file and must reach a bipartisan agreement on the challenge before the ballot affidavit envelope may be opened and the ballot tabulated. D. For the avoidance of doubt, if the ballot affidavit envelope fails the challenge review, the ballot affidavit envelope shall be sent as a challenged affidavit envelope to be cured. If the ballot affidavit envelope is cured, the process and means for curing and the name of the curing party must be documented, and the unopened ballot envelope shall be returned to the challenge review board for final confirmation. E. For the avoidance of doubt, the county recorder and county officer in charge of elections shall maintain chain of custody documentation that is documented at each stage of the signature and affidavit verification process, including by each signature verification work station, and by all employees and observers involved in each phase of review and shall provide for full and clear visibility of all signatures, including reference signatures, ballot affidavit envelope images, batch numbers, ballot numbers and voter identification. The county recorder and county officer in charge of elections shall maintain complete lists of all challenged ballots daily, and the challenge logs must be made available daily to any political party and all candidates on request. F. A person who violates this section is guilty of a class 5 felony, and the county attorney has a nondiscretionary duty to file the charge, and any sentence imposed by a court shall comply with statutory guidelines for sentencing. END_STATUTE |
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