Election website delayed again

Hopefuls shut out of signature collecting system

A service at the Arizona Secretary of State’s office intended to make it easier for local candidates get their names on the ballot has missed its intended launch date — and shut off access for legislative and statewide hopefuls who have used it for five years.

An online system for collecting signatures called E-Qual was supposed to expand by Jan. 1. After saying the service should be up by March, then by May, Secretary of State Michele Reagan’s website now says to expect it online by June 30.

That’s too late to help candidates in this year’s local elections, such as the Aug. 29 city council primaries in Phoenix, Prescott and Tucson,

among others. The qualification period for getting on the ballot has passed.

Candidates such as state Sen. Andrea Dalessandro, a Green Valley Democrat, say it hampers their ability to get an early start on election plans.

Reagan’s office attributes the delay to the magnitude of expanding the online system to local jurisdictions, including all 15 counties, scores of cities and town and the state’s 1,470 political precincts.

That requires an extensive mapping effort that also disables the existing system, secretary of state spokesman Matt Roberts said.

“And since no appropriations came with these bills, this project had to be undertaken with existing staff resources,” Roberts said in an email, highlighting the fact it was an unfunded mandate.

The delay has been a small boon for Sen. Katie Hobbs, D-Phoenix, who is hoping to run against Reagan for secretary of state next year.

Hobbs, the only Democrat in the race so far, sent a fundraising appeal highlighting the still-shuttered service.

“I raised $500 off of it,” Hobbs said of her first day’s collection.

“The system was supposed to be back up in March, but much like many other things from the current secretary of state, has been quietly delayed with the hope that no one will notice,” Hobbs’ appeal read. “Given her (Reagan’s) current record, we’re not holding our breath for it to be back any time soon.”

For some candidates, it’s an annoyance. But for the vast majority of state candidates, there hasn’t been a hue and cry. They have until next May to submit their nomination petitions.

But this is not the first tech project Reagan’s office has struggled with.

Her ambitious “See the Money” project, to allow people to more easily track campaign spending, has been delayed for more than a year.

And the contract for the statewide voter-registration database expires this month, necessitating a two-year extension because the office had not sought a new contract until last month.

The E-Qual system started five years ago. It allowed candidates for state offices, from governor to Legislature, to gather half of the signatures they need online instead of having to knock on doors. The service links to the state’s voter-registration database to verify the signer is indeed a voter.

Last year, the Legislature approved bills that expanded the program to elections for city, county and precinct committee people, as well as federal candidates. The legislation allowed a candidate to get up to the minimum number of required signatures and directed the expanded system be in place by Jan. 1.

Reagan’s offices supported the bills, and the legislative record shows no comment on the need for funding.

Although the expansion was intended to help local candidates, some apparently didn’t notice.

Sal DiCiccio, who is running for reelection to his Phoenix City Council seat, said he wasn’t aware of it.

“It wouldn’t have mattered one way or the other in our race,” DiCiccio said. “Two hundred signatures is basically a weekend (of effort) in our race.”

But Dalessandro said she is frustrated by the inability to direct her supporters to the online site, especially because her district’s voters are spread across far-flung rural areas.

“It really delayed my fundraising,” Dalessandro said. “I like to send an email to my supporters saying you can sign online.”

If the site is not up by Aug. 1, it will have another consequence: Candidates running with public-campaign financing won’t be able to collect the $5 contributions they need to qualify for the Clean Elections system.