Arizona counties invest millions to reassure voters of election security

Flagstaff, Arizona — Laura Huenneke, caput of nan Coconino County Democratic Party successful Arizona, remembers what utilized to walk for an predetermination time problem.

"A rattlesnake came into nan installation 1 time and they had to unopen down counting and evacuate people," Huenneke told CBS News. "No predetermination charismatic coming would show you that they're worried astir rattlesnakes arsenic their awesome disruption to voting aliases to counting."

These days, successful nan battleground authorities of Arizona, wherever election denialism has been rampant, rattlesnakes are nan good aged days for Huenneke and her Republican counterpart William Culbertson, chair of nan Coconino County Republican Committee. Together, they show ballot counting successful nan county, which includes nan metropolis of Flagstaff.

"There's ever going to beryllium personification that has that raised eyebrow," Culbertson said.

According to CBS News polling, 56% of Democrats and 26% of Republicans nationwide are "very confident" successful their state's expertise to clasp elections accurately and fairly, but 32% of Republicans are "not confident," arsenic opposed to conscionable 8% of Democrats. 

"All those processes are very overmuch transparent," said Eslir Musta, elections head for Coconino County, a mostly Democratic area. "…The extremity is to benignant of person this sadistic transparency for nan public."

In Coconino County, that sadistic transparency takes nan shape of astir $1.5 cardinal spent to upgrade nan main vote-counting facility. 

"The measurement I spot it is it's besides for illustration a reinvestment successful immoderate of, like, nan pillars of our fundamental, like, statement pinch nan public," Musta said.

Arizona's Pinal County, which is mostly Republican, besides went connected a spending spree, building a caller installation of its own. 

"How do you put a dollar motion connected democracy?" Pinal County Recorder Dana Lewis asked.

The ballot boxes successful Pinal County are equipped pinch GPS search devices, thing Lewis says tin reassure nan nationalist each predetermination instrumentality is protected.

"I americium capable to way each 1 of these cages pinch a GPS portion connected it wrong 5 feet of movement," Lewis said.

It's a motion of really section officials are trying to temper predetermination skeptics, for illustration those who falsely judge tabulation machines are connected to nan internet.

Lewis explains that its tabulation strategy is simply a "closed gateway" successful which everything that gets tabulated successful its predetermination installation goes into a "black box" that is located successful nan aforesaid room arsenic nan ballots. That container is not connected to thing extracurricular nan room, Lewis emphasizes.

That besides applies to Coconino County.

"The tabulators are not connected to nan internet," Musta said.

It's an finance that elections officials opportunity is starting to salary disconnected pinch voters.

"I deliberation much group are coming around, truthful it's getting better," Culbertson said. "I still spot a fewer skeptics."

It's a modular that Musta is fresh to meet.

"There's thing to hide," Musta said. "There's ne'er been thing to hide."

In:
• Arizona
• 2024 Elections