PHOENIX — Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates said Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Republican-controlled Legislature have a "drop-dead" deadline of Friday, Feb. 9 to re-arrange Arizona's election calendar - or else risk blocking the election of the next president.
"This is a real issue," Gates said on this weekend's "Sunday Square Off."
"We need these calendar changes so that voters aren't disenfranchised... We need the governor to lead on this."
The deadline to rearrange the election calendar, announced by the Arizona Association of Counties, comes several months after the counties warned the governor and Legislature about the calendar issue.
Arizona's 15 counties run local, county, state and federal elections.
Here's what we know:
What's the problem?
In 2022, a new Republican-sponsored law lowered the threshold for automatic election recounts. The legislation was a reaction to Democrat Joe Biden's razor-thin Arizona victory in 2020 over Donald Trump. If the law had been in effect in 2020, the Biden-Trump race would have gone to an automatic recount.
When the recount law was passed, the election calendar wasn't revised to keep up.
With close races becoming more common in Arizona, automatic recounts pile more work on election employees under a statutory timetable that doesn't give them more time for the work.
What's at stake?
The nightmare scenario for county elections officials is an automatic recount of Arizona's presidential vote.
If the calendar isn't adjusted, the state's presidential electors for the winning candidate might not be certified by the federal deadline, which could throw the election results into chaos.
"Arizona will not be able to cast its votes for president," Jennifer Marson, executive director of the Arizona Association of Counties, said in October. "We are in uncharted legal territory when it comes to the presidential election."
If there are automatic recounts in the primaries, that would delay printing ballots. Military and overseas voters might not get their ballots in time for the general election, which could violate federal law.
What's the solution?
The counties propose pushing back the date of the Aug. 6 primary election by one week, to July 30.
The seven days gained by that proposal would free more time for county elections offices to meet statutory deadlines for mandated tasks.
Talking to reporters last week, Gov. Hobbs rejected that fix. A spokesman later said the governor, a former secretary of state, was stating her own opinion.
Is the Friday deadline realistic?
The counties say the deadline is real, in order to move the primary date.
Whether it's realistic is another question.
The governor could call a Special Session of the Legislature this week if it appears there's agreement on the fix. A special session allows lawmakers to deal with the one issue and set other work aside.
The deadline means that legislation to adjust the election calendar would have to be introduced as soon as Monday, in order to make it to the governor's desk for signing by Friday.
Gov. Hobbs has called for a "clean bill" - a bill that solves the calendar problem without tacking on other election-related legislation.
But as of Sunday evening, Republicans appeared determined to use the deadline as a wedge to insert legislation that's been vetoed in the past. Some Republicans don't believe there's a problem.
Compounding the challenge is the need to pass the legislation by two-thirds majorities in both the House and the Senate, so it can take effect as soon as it is signed into law.
>> Download the 12News app for the latest local breaking news straight to your phone.
12News on YouTube
Catch up on the latest news and stories on the 12News YouTube channel. Subscribe today.