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HB2901 - 572R - I Ver
REFERENCE TITLE:
voting equipment; requirements; origin
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HB 2901
Introduced by
Representative
Montenegro
AN
ACT
amending section 16-442, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to voting equipment.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 16-442, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
16-442.
Committee approval; adoption of vote tabulating equipment;
experimental use; emergency certification
A. The secretary of state shall appoint a committee
of three persons, to consist of a member of the engineering college at one of
the universities, a member of
the
this
state bar of Arizona and one person familiar with voting processes in the
state,
no
not
more than two of whom
shall be of the same political party, and at least one of whom shall have at
least five years of experience with and shall be able to render an opinion
based on knowledge of, training in or education in electronic voting systems, procedures
and security.� The committee shall investigate and test the various types of
vote recording or tabulating machines or devices that may be used under this
article. The committee shall submit its recommendations to the
secretary of state who shall make final adoption of the type or types, make or
makes, model or models to be certified for use in this state. The
committee shall serve without compensation.
B. Machines or devices used at any election for
federal, state or county offices may only be certified for use in this state
and may only be used in this state if they comply with the help America vote
act of 2002
(P.L. 107-252; 116 Stat. 1666; 52 United
States Code sections 20901 through 21145)
and if those machines or
devices have been tested and approved by a laboratory that is accredited
pursuant to the help America vote act of 2002.
C. After consultation with the committee prescribed
by subsection A of this section, the secretary of state shall adopt standards
that specify the criteria for loss of certification for equipment that was used
at any election for federal, state or county offices and that was previously
certified for use in this state. On loss of certification, machines
or devices used at any election may not be used for any election for federal,
state or county offices in this state unless recertified for use in this state.
D. The secretary of state may revoke the
certification of any voting system or device for use in a federal, state or
county election in this state or may prohibit for up to five years the
purchase, lease or use of any voting system or device leased, installed or used
by a person or firm in connection with a federal, state or county election in
this state, or both, if either of the following occurs:
1. The person or firm installs, uses or
permits
allows
the use of a voting system
or device that is not certified for use or approved for experimental use in
this state pursuant to this section.
2. The person or firm uses or includes hardware,
firmware or software in a version that is not certified for use or approved for
experimental use pursuant to this section in a certified voting system or
device.
E. The governing body of a city or town or the board
of directors of an agricultural improvement district may adopt for use in
elections any kind of electronic voting system or vote tabulating device
approved by the secretary of state, and thereupon the voting or marking device
and vote tabulating equipment may be used at any or all elections for voting,
recording and counting votes cast at an election.
F. The secretary of state or the governing body may
provide for the experimental use of a voting system or device without a final
adoption of the voting system or device, and its use at the election is as
valid as if the machines had been permanently adopted.
g. Beginning January 1, 2029, the
secretary of state shall not certify a vote recording and vote tabulating
machine or device used for elections for federal, state or county offices
unless:
1. one hundred percent of all the
machine's or device's parts and COMPONENTS are sourced from the united states.
2. one hundred percent of all the
machine's or device's manufacturing AND assembly is performed in the united
states.
H. Subsection G of this section does
not apply to VOTE RECORDING AND VOTE TABULATING MACHINES AND DEVICES that are
ACQUIRED before January 1, 2028.
G.
I.
After
consultation with the committee prescribed by subsection A of this section, the
secretary of state may approve for emergency use an upgrade or modification to
a voting system or device that is certified for use in this state if the
governing body establishes in an open meeting that the election cannot be
conducted without the emergency certification.� Any emergency certification
shall be limited to
no
not
more than
six months.� At the conclusion of the certification period the voting system or
device shall be decertified and unavailable for future use unless certified in
accordance with this section.
END_STATUTE