Toward the end of a hearing Feb. 13 on an election reform bill, someone in the audience shouted “railroad,” and Senate Judiciary Chairman John Huppenthal, R-20, slammed down his gavel, sending a loud crack through the room.

“Would one of the pages call security≠” he requested.

Mr. Huppenthal said he had worked through the night on changes to S1557 and was a bit “testy,” but his amendment to the bill that originally called for manual counting of a small percentage of ballots to test the accuracy of voting machines and other proposed reforms were made only to get the measure out of committee.

“I’m the author of it and I don’t like it,” he said to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Karen Johnson, R-18. “Can you hold your nose and get it out of this committee≠”

Ms. Johnson told Arizona Capitol Times before the hearing that Mr. Huppenthal’s amendment “decimated” her bill.

After some fiery testimony, the bill received a do pass recommendation, 7-0.

“This amended bill is an absolute sham, in my opinion,” said Dan Gutenkauf of Arizona Citizens for Elections Reform (ACER).

Mr. Gutenkauf, who once took a lawsuit regarding election laws to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Carolyn Maxon of ACER drafted the bill for Ms. Johnson. It called for changes in the election code to prevent logjams at the polls, eliminate secret source coding of voting machine software, independent testing of voting machine accuracy, a manual audit of at least 5 percent of precincts to audit voting machine tabulations and hand counts in recount elections. The reforms were either stricken or substantially changed by Mr. Huppenthal’s amendment.

Mr. Gutenkauf submitted information on a dozen states with laws requiring manual audits of ballots or voting machines. In those states, “the hand count is the vote of record,” he said. Ms. Johnson’s bill contained the same language.

“To reject this bill as initially put forward is an act of arrogance, it’s a denial of the problems and it’s totally irresponsible,” Mr. Gutenkauf said.

Elections director: Hand count should be done at polling sites

Maricopa County Elections Director Karen Osborne testified in favor of the amended bill, but said there is a place for a court-ordered manual audit of 5 percent of precincts. She added, however, that the audits would significantly slow the process, based on a trial hand count the county performed when it received new voting machines.

The hand count, she said, involved 200 volunteers and, after one day, the trial audit had not been completed.

“The mind wanders,” Ms. Osborne said. “The hand count should be done at polling places… the political parties need to step up and help us with this extra work.”

Ms. Johnson said quick election results are not the goal.

“The mandate is for accurate elections, not speedy elections,” she said.

Ms. Maxon of ACER told the committee that the 2004 District 20 Republican primary election, where a recount reversed the original vote, has created questions as to the fairness of Arizona elections.

“The amendments… are pretty much gutting all of this careful crafting for what we felt was the best method for achieving a fair vote count in Arizona,” Ms. Maxon said. “We don’t know if there was any software tampering in our past elections. There’s no way to discover it. The only way you can discover it is by hand recount.”

Ms. Johnson’s bill now faces debate in the Senate, where numerous floor amendments are expected to restore original language.

“The amendment,” Mr. Huppenthal told Ms. Maxon, “sets up the stage for the negotiations to put the stuff that you think would make this a great bill. The amendment is not going to be a final look at this bill in any way, shape or form…”

An identical House bill, H2859, sponsored by Rep. Ted Downing, D-28, had not been scheduled for hearing as of Feb.16.

Mr. Gutenkauf and his twin brother filed suit in U.S. District Court in 1996 after their request to videotape a vote count in a Tempe precinct was denied. That court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued non-published rulings, he said. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Voting

How the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on S1557 as amended:

Voting yes:

Bill Brotherton, Democrat

Ron Gould, Republican

Jack Harper, Republican

John Huppenthal, Republican

Marilyn Jarrett, Republican

Dean Martin, Republican

Richard Miranda, Democrat

Linda Aguirre, Democrat, did not vote