Arizona elections are free, fair, and secure — and that’s not a coincidence. Thousands of election officials and volunteers across Arizona work together to run our elections in accordance with the law. And thousands of hours have gone into developing the laws and procedures that govern our elections. As former Arizona secretary of state and former Maricopa County recorder, we know firsthand what goes into making our system work: dedicated people and careful planning.

Our election procedures today don’t look the same as they did a hundred years ago. We can, and should, continue to refine our system to ease the burden that our election officials face as the guardians of our democracy and to ensure voters have access to the polls. That’s on all of us.

In the last few years, the pressure on Arizona’s election officials has increased tenfold. Not only are they facing long working hours without enough staff and resources to support all of the work but lies and conspiracy theories about our elections have led to threats and harassment for many. Election officials and volunteers are the backbone of our democracy, and we need to be asking ourselves tough questions about how we can better support them. Do they have access to the right training and tools? How can we help them keep up with the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape? How can they best support voters wading through the barrage of disinformation online?

Ensuring that election officials can do their jobs is essential to Arizonans being able to exercise their right to vote. The key to any democracy is in the hands of the voters. And while our election system is strong, enhanced collaboration among election officials and leaders in our state can make it better. We need a variety of diverse perspectives to effectively get that work done. That’s where the Bipartisan Elections Task Force comes in. We may not agree on everything, but surely we can find common ground on commonsense improvements for Arizona’s elections.

The Task Force is made up of Arizona election administration and security experts, voting rights advocates, and current and former officials from both sides of the aisle. These folks are on the ground, in the weeds, helping ensure our elections run safely and securely. They know where help is needed. We’ll be co-chairing the group — a Democrat and a Republican — to support the Task Force in this critical work. Together, we hope to home in on bipartisan policy recommendations to improve Arizona’s election system.

The Task Force kicked off this work April 13 — setting our priorities, our goals, and our timelines. We have created working groups focused on a few key topics: election administration, voter registration, early voting, Election Day and post-election procedures, and election equipment and security. This is where specific challenges will be identified, and policy solutions will be developed. The full Task Force will then meet as a group to provide feedback on these recommendations.

At its core, the Task Force is a collaborative effort. Along the way, we will share our suggestions with key stakeholders across the state and incorporate their feedback. We will also present our suggestions to the public before they are finalized. We need real ideas to fix real issues that real Arizonans face when participating in our democracy. And we can’t do that without bipartisan public support.

We know that Arizona elections have been free, fair, and secure. But, after our own experiences, we’ll be the first to admit that there’s room to build on that strong foundation before the next elections. The Bipartisan Elections Taskforce members are ready to lead that effort.

Katie Hobbs is Arizona’s 24th governor and previously she became secretary of state in 2018. Helen Purcell is the former Maricopa County recorder.