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SB1037 - 572R - H Ver
House Engrossed
Senate Bill
voting; equipment;
internet; custody; violation
State of Arizona
Senate
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
SENATE BILL 1037
AN
ACT
amending section 16-442, Arizona Revised
Statutes; amending title 16, chapter 4, article 9, Arizona Revised Statutes, by
adding section 16-567; amending title 16, chapter 4, article 10, Arizona
Revised Statutes, by adding section 16-605; relating to the conduct of
elections.
(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
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 state bar of Arizona and one person familiar
with voting processes in
the
this
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. The secretary of state shall
ensure that
ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, Vote recording and vote tabulating machines and
election management systems that are approved for use pursuant to this
section:
1. do Not have hardware installed
that supports
direct or indirect internet connectivity or
any other form of remote access or software that allows any change to results
in files or a database.
2.
supports the
usage and tracking of users based on unique CREDENTIALS that are changed at
least once per election cycle for each user.
3. Log any deletions of ballot
images, windows event logs and results files. The system also shall maintain
election software logs.
4. Maintain for twenty-two months as
election data the data prescribed in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this subsection.
G.
H.
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.
I. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION,
INDIRECT INTERNET CONNECTIVITY INCLUDES THE USE OF AN ELECTION MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM GATEWAY SYSTEM.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Title 16, chapter 4, article 9, Arizona
Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 16-567, to read:
START_STATUTE
16-567.
Polling place and voting center equipment; custody; violation;
classification
A. notwithstanding any other law, any
voting equipment that is used in a polling place or voting center may not have
internet access and must prohibit access by any means to any
aggregated data or results. if the equipment has an
accessible port, the port must be locked with a tamper-proof seal and
must be logged in the chain of custody document when broken or accessed. the
delivery, use and return of the equipment shall be logged on a chain of custody
document so that the name and signature of every person who delivers, receives,
uses and returns that equipment is recorded and retained as an official
election record.
B. a person who violates this section
is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 3. Title 16, chapter 4, article 10,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 16-605, to read:
START_STATUTE
16-605.
Counting center
equipment; election results; data; custody; violation; classification
A.
notwithstanding
any other law, any ELECTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OR tabulation equipment that is
used in a central counting center or other tabulation center may not have
internet access, MUST NOT BE CAPABLE OF INDIRECT INTERNET CONNECTIVITY, and
must prohibit access by any means to any data or results until used by
authorized election personnel only. such equipment shall not have a
port. the use and return of the equipment that contains election
results and data shall be logged on a chain of custody document so that the
name and signature of every person who delivers, receives, uses and returns the
storage device or other equipment that contains election data and election
results is recorded and retained as an official election record.
b. notwithstanding any other law, all
activities at the counting center shall be included in a nonstop video that is
posted to the county's website.
c. a person who negligently violates
this section is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.
D. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION,
INDIRECT INTERNET CONNECTIVITY INCLUDES THE USE OF AN ELECTION MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM GATEWAY SYSTEM.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 4.
Legislative findings
The legislature finds that:
1. It has refused on
multiple occasions to authorize the use of an EMS gateway system which allows
for election management systems to be connected indirectly to the internet.
2. Notwithstanding this
refusal, the Arizona secretary of state continues to violate the law and allow
EMS systems to be connected indirectly to the internet.
3. The current secretary of
state has consistently taken the position that he has authority to do whatever
is not expressly prohibited, contrary to clear judicial precedent.
4. As a result of this
hubris, the current secretary of state has his systems hacked by what he claims
to be agents of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, jeopardizing the security of
our state�s voter rolls and placing Arizonans at risk of identity theft and
fraud.
5. Nothing connected to the
internet can be fully secured from hacking.
6. The only way to have
secure elections is to ensure that no component of any elections management
system is capable of connecting to the internet, directly or indirectly.