Pinal County opens new election center in bid to recover voter trust, meet population boom

Dana Lewis was worried when she took law enforcement officers on a walk-through of Pinal County's former election center at the start of 2022.

She already knew the facility, which spanned two separate, adjourning buildings along Main Street in Coolidge, was likely far from perfectly secure. The county's ballots were safe. But Lewis, a compliance officer, wondered if staff members were.

Their workplace was located between a petroleum pump and a fertilizer facility—a useful cocktail for an aspiring bomber. Staff were often visible from the road as they walked between the center's buildings. Employees parked on the street, leaving them vulnerable as they walked to their cars at the end of the day.

Two years later, Lewis is now the county's recorder. Standing in front of its brand-new election center on Monday, she pointed out new security features designed to address "all the things that made me really nervous."

There's gated parking behind the building. Bollards prevent vehicles from driving into the facility. Security glass that surrounds the front desk inside. And almost every inch of the 53,000-square-foot Pinal Voter Operations Technology and Elections Services Building — known as the Pinal VOTES Building for short — is on camera.

County officials say its more than just a new office space. It represents county leaders' commitment to overcoming a disastrous 2022 election cycle. It illustrates how much of the county, sandwiched between Phoenix and Tucson, has evolved from rural farmland to booming suburbia. And it is loaded with features designed to keep staff, visitors and ballots safe in a time of voting conspiracies and threats.

All of that wasn't cheap. The new facility cost $32 million and was built on an expedited timeline to ensure it would be fully constructed in time for the upcoming state primary and general elections.

But county leaders say it's worth it. Pinal County has established itself as one of the fastest growing in the country in recent years, and the Maricopa Association of Governments projects its population will more than double to 1.2 million people by 2060. Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Goodman said the building anticipates that increased growth in coming decades.

He also believes democracy is deserving of the expense. Pinal County made headlines for a rough primary election in 2022, and then a 500-vote tallying discrepancy that was discovered after the November election during a recount of two statewide races with tight margins. Goodman said it has needed to commit more money toward well-run elections for years, as do many other counties across the country.

"As far as the elections, this is the most important thing that we need to make sure we get as right as possible," Goodman said. "We get it as close to near perfect that we possibly can. And I believe we're in that right direction, and the results will show come the primary."

Room to rebuild

Pinal County's past election problems stemmed from a lack of experienced staff, a cramped workspace and weak training on procedures, among other factors.

Its new building contains spaces to fix those issues.

The center is several times larger than the previous election office. Key spaces include a massive warehouse, training rooms and ballot receiving and processing areas. Inside the tabulation room, four brand-new tallying machines sit ready for use. Combined, they can process about 6,000 ballots per hour.

Right now, about 25 full-time staffers occupy the building. They're outnumbered by empty cubicles. But as the county's population of voters inches upwards, so will the number of occupied workspaces.

In the meantime, Lewis said she is focused on training her employees in numerous areas of the office. Those already skilled in voter registration will be trained in early voting, and those adept in both departments might be trained in voter outreach.

The skill-building serves two purposes. It ensures the office can endure elections even if some staffers leave midway through or an open role is slow to fill. It also aims to keep staff in the long run by offering new opportunities for professional advancement.

"They have to have a reason to want to stay," Lewis said. "If I'm not able to pay them or retain them, then another county will scoop them up."

The building doesn't just contain staff spaces. It also features a sizeable lobby and a glass-enclosed room that offers a glimpse into ballot processing and vote counting spaces, as well as televisions to view livestreams of other areas of the building.

That room, which Lewis affectionately has dubbed the "fishbowl," is designed to provide transparency to the public and increase trust.

Counties statewide plan secure offices

Pinal County isn't the only one investing in new election centers that could perhaps rival law enforcement facilities in security protocols.

Coconino County recently unveiled a new election building with cameras and keycard access rooms. Maricopa County, the state's most populous, is also planning to construct a new election facility. Details are sparse, but its leaders promise the new facility will be state-of-the-art. It will replace a building that protesters nearly stormed while awaiting the results of the 2020 presidential contest.

Lewis said she's already noticing an "uptick" in nasty messages.

"We're already seeing it prior to the primary," she said. "It's sad. Normally, it would have really been waiting for the general election."

She and Goodman — both Republicans in a deeply conservative county — said election misinformation is a growing problem. Goodman said candidates and elected officials must do "some fact checks" before releasing information.

"If a politician is out there and he comes in and he acts like it's factual ... all of a sudden the public as a whole takes that and thinks, 'Well, if they said it, that's for real,'" Goodman said. "I'm looking around us right now in our political realm, and that's exactly what's happening today with all of us. We're all going through that."

Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: In a bid to recover trust, Pinal County opens new election facility