Arizona Pinal County Out of Precinct Policy Enforcement Challenge

Lawsuit filed by Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) against Pinal County Recorder Dana Lewis (R) and members of the county board of supervisors challenging the county’s refusal to enforce the Out of Precinct (OOP) provision of the 2023 Elections Procedures Manual (EPM). The OOP provision of the 2023 EPM requires counties to provide voters who show up at the wrong precinct the opportunity to cast a ballot for their assigned precinct. Under this rule, voters in the wrong precinct may cast their ballots using a voting device programmed with the ballot styles for every precinct in the county. Fontes argues that Pinal County’s refusal to enforce the OOP provision, which has been upheld in a different case challenging multiple provisions of the EPM, violates state law. Fontes asks the court to order Pinal County to comply with the OOP provision. He also asks the court to rule by Oct. 4, 2024 so that his office can perform voting machine testing before early voting begins on Oct. 9.

Fontes filed his complaint on Sept. 27, 2024. The court held a hearing on Oct. 3.

On Oct. 4, a judge ruled that Pinal County must comply with the EPM but did not order the county to implement the OOP provision because it was too close to the election.

On Oct. 7, Fontes appealed the decision to the Arizona Court of Appeals. A motion to expedite the matter was denied Oct. 18.

On Oct. 23, Fontes transferred the appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court.

RESULT: On Oct. 25, the Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the Pinal County Superior Court’s ruling. Voters who show up at the wrong precinct will not be able to cast a ballot in the 2024 election.

Last updated: October 28, 2024 11:00 am EST