[fusion_builder_container type=”flex” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” overlay_color=”” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” padding_right=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” center_content=”no” last=”true” min_height=”” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_sizes_top=”” border_sizes_bottom=”” border_sizes_left=”” border_sizes_right=”” first=”true”][fusion_text]L-R: Brian Bickel, Margaret Lacey, Linda Peterson Vargas, Susan Bickel.
Four LD18 precinct committee persons participated in the Pima County Election hand count on Saturday morning. Twenty-five Democrats and an equal number of Republicans came together to validate the primary election results for the Pima County Elections Department.
They include:
- Susan Bickel, Chair, LD18 Democrats
- Brian Bickel, Chair, Pima County Election Integrity Commission
- Margaret Lacey, Precinct Committeeperson in Udall Territory, Precinct 107, and Volunteer at the Loft.
- Linda Petersen Vargas, Precinct Committeeperson in Craycroft Territory, Precinct 214
The hand count is mandated by state law. The Pima County Elections department organizes this effort on the Saturday after the election (primary and general). The political parties recruit volunteers to participate. Barbara Tellman and Elaine Lim organize the volunteers for the Dem party.
There are multiple tables in the room. Counters traditionally meet at the Hilton Garden Inn across the street from the Elections Dept in one of their banquet/meeting rooms. Equal numbers of each party work at the tables.
“Democrats wore blue vests, and nearly all wore masks. Republicans wore red vests, but I did not see a single mask on any of them. One of them at our table complained he couldn’t hear anyone wearing a mask. He was actually deaf as a post,” said Margaret Lacey.
“We had green markers and scratch pads to help us keep track of the count. First, we counted all the Democratic and all the Republican ballots. The first time we counted them, we told the elections person our totals, and they were wrong. The second time after we recounted them the number was correct,” she added
Boxes of Ballots
Prior to the event, the county chairs (Pima Dems Chair Bonnie Heidler and Pima GOP Chair Shelly Kais) meet with Elections and draw preprepared random precincts (now vote centers), different races and different parties. Each table gets a different box of ballots, and they were all mail-in ballots from Pima County
“In my case, our table counted the ballots from vote center 123. We inspected the box to ensure it has been sealed appropriately. We counted the number of ballots and verified that number with the final tally from the voting machine. If our count doesn’t match, we count them again. And again….and again….until we match,” Susan Bickel said. “Then we counted the votes for District 18 Dem Governor; District 17 Rep., Secretary of State, and several other races.”
“Because voters can vote at any vote center, we got ballots from several different districts. We also got ballots with write-in candidates and ballots with marks where we needed to determine the “intent” of the voter. For example, if the voter didn’t darken the circle but put an x in the circle.”
“There was no ruckus or disrespect between the people working at the table. We finished our count in just over 1.5 hours. There was one table that took a little bit longer. The idea is that it takes as long as it takes to get the answers. There were two sheriff’s deputies in the lobby, and I had no concern for safety,” Susan said.
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