Borrelli bill would ban most electronic ballot tabulating machines
By Mackenzie Dexter' River City Newspapers
Feb 23, 2023 Updated Feb 23, 2023
State Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City
Pioneer file photo
PHOENIX – A bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu City) to ban electronic voting equipment as the primary method for tabulating votes in Arizona has advanced.
According to the proposed bill, electronic voting equipment could not be used in an election unless the equipment meets U.S. Department of Defense cybersecurity standards, the kit is manufactured in the United States, and the auditor general maintains source codes for the equipment.
"This is a national security issue," Borrelli said. "Because we can have foreign actors involved in the manufacturing or even manipulating the system."
Clint Curtis testified that he created a program to hack voting machines at Monday's Senate Elections Committee meeting. Curtis, who said he is a Democrat, played a video of his testifying to Congress about the software. His presentation centered on ballot-marking devices, and the only way to avoid potential fraud in elections is to scrap electronic voting equipment.
"It's just a terrible idea to use computers in elections," he said. "Democracy is not for the lazy."
Instead, Curtis and state Republicans are pushing for statewide hand counts. The Republican-heavy committee falsely claimed that Arizona does not use paper ballots.
Borrelli also claimed that in 2020 that the voting machines were not certified, which is false, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
According to the bill, Borrelli said that more entities, such as county officials, should have access to source codes to ensure "everything is running properly."
Source codes give the computer instructions on election day, including counting votes.
If passed, the Legislature, county supervisors, county recorder, or other elections officer could request the source code from the auditor general "to verify that the electronic equipment is operating properly and in compliance with any contract requirements." For tabulation issues, the court could appoint a "special master" to review the source codes, which the general auditor must hand over. After examining the equipment, the special master would release a public report to the court and Secretary of State.
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"We delegate the authority to the counties to run the election," Borrelli said. "We don't have one state election, we have 15 county elections, and there needs to be an oversight on that local level to ensure that things are operating properly, especially when they're using taxpayer dollars."
Curtis admitted when asked that he did not know much about Arizona's election process, nor has he spoken with statewide election experts, such as county recorders and election directors. Borrelli and Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-District 7) responded that legislatures are the election officials.
"It is on us to untangle the mess," Rogers said about the Legislature's role in elections.
Jen Marson, Arizona Association of Counties, spoke against the bill. With how the Department of Defense standards are written and with the technology Arizona uses, Marson said the statement would not likely apply to Arizona. The DOD standards are written explicitly for wired equipment. In contrast, Arizona's equipment is "air-gapped," which means a security measure isolates the computer or network to prevent outside connections.
"We certainly believe in security, but we just don't know because of the way the DOD standards are written and the way our technology exists if that would be applicable," Marson said.
Borrelli's bill would also require election equipment to be manufactured in the U.S. Arizona's election equipment is assembled in the U.S., but it is not manufactured here. Marson said that, currently, there isn't an elections equipment supplier in the U.S.
"That is not all available to get here in the United States, so we're concerned that if this bill were to be signed as is, there's no way we'd be able to comply," Marson said.
Marson also addressed the source codes and that the code has to be certified and on file for the Secretary of State's office and the EAC before an election.
"The EAC approved a check on the code and the code that the SOS thus approved to make sure it is the same as the code in the computer that will be used for the next election," Marson said about the source code verification process.
"The government oversight needs to make sure there's no black box, black hole that we're not allowed to look into to verify these machines are operating properly," Borrelli said.
Sen. Priya Sundareshan (D-District 18) said cyber security is essential, but the bill proposes vague requirements for counties to follow and may not address the issues targeted. She said making the source code available to various entities will help with election security.
"There are plenty of existing processes for ensuring election security," Sundareshan said.