The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors received a status update on the 2018 General Election today. County Recorder Adrian Fontes said his office was expecting record turnout for a midterm election, possibly a “threefold increase” compared to the August primary. With 15 days until the election, Board members asked specific questions about the Recorder’s staffing plan and how election workers are being trained, among other topics.
“What we saw as a Board after the last election was that we needed to get internal and external auditors—very capable auditors—to look at this so that nothing could be missed,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Steve Chucri, District 2.
Those auditors are still at work. The second half of the meeting included a presentation from the firm BerryDunn on key issues identified during the 2018 Primary Election as well as recommendations for improving outcomes during the November general election. Bill Brown with BerryDunn estimated the Recorder’s Office had implemented about 50% of the recommendations to date. The Recorder said he agreed with the substance of BerryDunn’s findings. BerryDunn will issue a final report on November 2 which will be made public here.
“We believe we’ve given you everything we can to make sure that the election will be successful in November,” Chucri said to Fontes in closing remarks. “If we can still be a resource in any way, we’re happy to, as well as both auditing teams.”