Guests: Tim Laux – Jack Dona
Pima County Election Integrity Report Reveals Systemic Issues
A comprehensive analysis of Pima County's 2024 primary and general elections has uncovered numerous procedural violations and irregularities that raise serious concerns about election integrity. The Pima Integrity Project, a non-partisan fellowship of retired military intelligence professionals, law enforcement officers, and technical experts, conducted an extensive review of chain of custody documents and election data provided by the County Recorder's office.
**Critical Findings**
The investigation revealed multiple violations of the Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) and state statutes, including:
- 44 ballot boxes held overnight without proper chain of custody documentation
- Single couriers handling multiple ballot boxes in violation of two-party retrieval requirements
- Physically impossible transit times recorded for ballot transfers
- A sheriff's deputy collecting ballots alone, violating EPM requirements for partisan race collections
- Incomplete and improper chain of custody documentation
- Unexplained fluctuations in voter registration numbers
**Chain of Custody Violations**
Tim Laux, a senior Oracle database engineer involved in the analysis, highlighted particularly concerning incidents where a single courier claimed to transport multiple ballot boxes between downtown Tucson and the east side in just four minutes during peak traffic hours. "Nobody is going to be able to make that kind of trip unless they have a double turbo and nitrous oxide, and there's no stop lights and no traffic," Laux explained.
The investigation documented instances where ballot boxes contained suspiciously round numbers – 150, 200, 250, 300 – raising additional questions about the accuracy of the documentation.
**Voter Roll Irregularities**
The analysis identified several anomalies in Pima County's voter rolls:
- 491 registered voters listed as 100 years or older
- Unexplained disappearance of approximately 50,000 voters between October 2024 and January 2025
- Large numbers of voters with no voting history remaining on active rolls
- Failure to properly maintain the Active Early Voting List as required by ARS 16-544
**UOCAVA Ballot Concerns**
The report identified 444 UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) votes with significant documentation issues. These ballots, intended for military and overseas voters, showed:
- Missing data on transmission methods (fax, email, or mail)
- Unclear chain of custody between receipt and processing
- Inadequate documentation of the required ballot duplication process
**Proposed Solutions**
Jack Dona, one of the report's authors, proposed that these systemic issues warrant federal intervention: "These issues that continue to happen election cycle after election cycle are violating the civil rights of the voters, not just in Pima County but the entire state because it's swaying elections statewide."
The report recommends:
- Appointment of a special counsel with subpoena and law enforcement powers
- Standardization of forms across all counties by the state legislature
- Enhanced oversight of chain of custody procedures
- Implementation of strict reconciliation processes for ballot handling
- Regular audits of voter roll maintenance procedures
**Certification Concerns**
The report raises serious questions about the certification of elections with such significant procedural violations. Both analysts expressed that they would not have certified an election with such problematic chain of custody documentation, particularly given cases like the sheriff's race which was decided by approximately 400 votes while documented violations occurred in the handling of over 1,600 ballots.
The Pima Integrity Project's 53-page report, compiled through months of detailed analysis, represents the most comprehensive examination to date of Pima County's election processes. The findings suggest that without significant reform, public confidence in local elections will continue to erode.