The Navajo County Board of Supervisors convened for a special meeting on Monday, Nov. 28, with the board approving the official canvass of the results for general election, which was held on Nov. 8.
Prior to the approval, six people addressed the board, asking to delay the approval to further check the legitimacy of the election. Those who spoke included Sandee McKinely, Don Haggard, Dyan Flyzik, Donna Shurwin, Jerry Hubbard and Navajo County Republican Committee member Lisa Green.
Reasons presented included radio stations near voting polls playing democratic ads, poll workers changing parties since the previous general election, and the potential voting machines having algorithms inserted in them. Another statement made was that Katie Hobbs should not be active in certifying her own election by suing Republican officials for their refusal to do so. Maricopa County was referenced as a point of concern, due to problems with a ballot printer ink fueling claims of a rigged election.
Deputy County Attorney Jason Moore explained to the board that the approval of the general election could not be postponed due to statute. “The board shall meet and canvass the election not less than six days, no more than 20 days following the election. The election was on the eighth of November. Today is the 28th of November, which means that today is the last day available to certify the election results. This is day 20.” Moore added the only possibility for a delay would be any votes missing, which there were none.
As for the lawsuit mentioned, Moore explained from his understanding it was not in relation to election results but a disclosure of certain records and is against Maricopa County, not Navajo County. “If there are issues in other counties, those should be dealt with by those other counties.”
As for the radio station playing, it was done at an early voting site and was stopped once discovered. It was also verified that Navajo County’s voting machines are certified and have no defects. “Thank you to all the members of the public who took the time to join us today. We certainly appreciate citizens participating,” added Supervisor Dawnafe Whitesinger.
Following the meeting, notice was posted that the Navajo County Recorder’s Office found one ballot that was misplaced. In order for this voter to not be disenfranchised, the Elections Director asked the Board of Supervisors to amend the canvass of the Nov. 8, General Election in a special meeting that was held on Dec. 6.
The board also approved an agreement with the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) to receive pass-through funds from the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs. Pursuant to Laws 2022, Ch. 313, Sec. 110, the ADOA shall provide a $10,000 one-time payment to line-level deputies and detention officers employed by Navajo County Sheriff’s Office as of May 1. The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office shall distribute the payment to eligible employees in equal quarterly installments over two years. It was noted during the meeting that due to the lag in the availability of the funds to Navajo County, the equivalent of two quarterly payments may be made in either the fourth quarter of 2022 or the first quarter of 2023.
The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office will also be eligible for up to $950,000 for the purposes of providing a one-time recruitment payment not to exceed $5,000 per new hire, with the amount to be determined at the discretion of each individual sheriff, for line level deputies and detention officers at the Navajo County Sheriff’s department hired into the agency from May 1, of this year until April 30, 2023.
The board also approved the updates to the fiscal year 2022-23 budget to American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) revenues to expenditures in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). This is a procedural action only and does not allocate new funds nor does it modify the Board of Supervisors’ approved ARPA program. This is required by the final ARPA guidelines.
County-wide $11.1 million was received with allocations including the Board of Supervisors Administration, $1.4 million; Facilities Management, $640,322; Elections, $141,114; Contracts, $391,477; Planning & Zoning, $268,368; Recorder, $106,851; Voter Registration, $66,070; Assessor, $506,361; Information Technology, $386,854; Treasurer, $185,372, County Attorney $997,467; Superior Court, $582,252; Public Defender, $320,420; Clerk of Superior Court, $491,741; Holbrook Justice Court, $133,655; Winslow Justice Court, $134,754; Snowflake Justice Court, $137,757; Show Low Justice Court, $136,942; Pinetop Justice Court, $131,506; Juvenile Detention, $311,477; Jail Operations, $182,709; Sheriff, $2.6 million; Capital Outlay, $474,034; and Probation, $336,496.
