Arizona State Senate Elections Committee Chair Requesting Compliance Review of the State's Election Systems
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Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers, who Chairs the AZ Senate Elections Committee, sent a letter to President Trump and Howard Lutnick, the Secretary of Commerce, requesting a compliance review of AZ election systems and addressing national security concerns.
The July 15, 2025, letter urges the Trump administration to investigate Arizona’s elections for vulnerabilities, emphasizing the importance of election integrity. Specifically, it references compliance with election security standards and critical infrastructure protections, tied to Trump’s March 25, 2025, EO 14248, Preserving and protecting the integrity of American elections - and previous EOs concerning election security, such as EO 13848 Imposing sanctions in response to foreign interference in U.S. elections.
The letter references multiple provisions of EO 14248 that appear to be unmet or disregarded in AZ, including:
Encoded Vote Tabulation: Voting machines use ballot scanned images, digital markings, and other encoded vote data to tabulate votes rather than counting the voter-verifiable, human-readable text. This violates EO 14248, which calls for the tabulation of votes based on what the voter can see - not what a machine interprets.
Misuse of the term “Paper Ballots”: AZ officials continue to claim compliance by using ADA touchscreen-printed machine ballots as “Paper Ballots,” even though they are not hand-marked and are encoded with digital vote instructions not visible to the voter.
Foreign Components in Election Systems: Vendors have acknowledged the use of Chinese-manufactured hardware in voting systems and support devices, raising serious concerns under EO 14248 related to election infrastructure security.
Election Day Compliance Failures: AZ accepts and counts ballots received after Election Day, in contradiction to federal law and policy requiring uniform enforcement of federal law establishing Election Day deadlines.
Voter Roll Integrity and Citizenship Verification: There is insufficient enforcement of proof of citizenship requirements and a lack of list maintenance, contrary to EO 14248. AZ still relies on self-attestation without consistently requiring documentary proof of citizenship for federal elections.
AZ Voter Registration Database & Poll Books Interface with a Flawed Motor Vehicle System: This results in voter registrations being cancelled or altered without knowledge or consent, violating federal law.
The letter continues: Given these concerns, I respectfully request that your administration initiate a formal compliance review of AZ election system and procedures investigation with specific attention to the following:
Whether all voting equipment and vote tabulation systems in AZ comply with the standards in EO 14248, including the ban on encoded vote counting.
Whether proof-of-citizenship requirements are being enforced during registration and whether proper list oversight is in place.
Whether ballots are accepted after Election Day and counted in Federal Elections.
Whether ballots are accepted after Election Day and counted in Federal Elections.
Whether foreign components or software remain embedded in the systems used for voter registration, vote casting, vote tabulation, or reporting.
Whether AZ’s statewide election practices meet the funding eligibility standards established by the EAC in accordance with EO 14248 and the Help America Vote Act.
Thank you to Senator Rogers and the AZ Senate Election Committee for addressing election systems as a vital part of national security. Let’s hope that other states' election officials support these common-sense ideas to reform and improve elections, and follow the committee’s lead to ensure that critical infrastructure is not compromised by foreign adversaries.
Bill Bruch
Bill Bruch is the WA State GOP Election Integrity Committee Chairman (5th year), WAGOP Executive Board Member (5th Year), Skagit County GOP Chairman (9th year), Citizen Journalist, Blogger, Business Owner, 2020 WA State House Representative Candidate, Former Council Member, and WA State 2016 and 2024 RNC National Convention Delegate.