Dear Editor,
Having covered elections here for 41 years, I’m not buying the explanation or excuse that Mohave County closed its building to the public on primary election night for fear that media members and citizens would roam the administration building, prompting security concerns.
Remember, it’s our building in the first place. And it’s our election.
Long ago I broadcast preliminary election results live from 8 p.m. on election night well into the wee hours of the next morning in whatever county building the action was taking place.
One or more security officers was always present. There were safeguards that prohibited citizen meandering and I recall no incidents requiring security involvement.
Former office holders like Kingman Mayor Carol Anderson, Sheriff Tom Sheahan, Supervisor Becky Foster, reporters, political party leaders and interested citizens would gather for the spectacle of election night. There was a sense of joy and patriotism and participation in the democratic process.
Public interest was genuine. There were moments of intrigue and drama in an environment that could be electric.
Once upon a time, former Board clerk Pat Chastain, assisted by good folks like Barbara Bracken and Brenda Chastain furiously worked copy machines, printing out precinct results as they came in. They handed them out to an eagerly interested audience that wondered how did Dolan Springs vote and would Colorado City sway a county race.
The advent of the internet changed things over the years. We can all check the numbers as they’re posted on our phones, tablets and computers.
I no longer feel any need to be present wherever “Election Central” may be, and I’m content to collect the numbers electronically. That doesn’t mean others who might wish to be present, whoever they might be, should be denied that privilege or right.
The county just an election or two ago, used a conference room in the single-story portion of the Administration Building for election night gatherings. The public had a single access point to that room and the two doors that led to the hallway that opened to the rest of the building was simply closed and locked.
So, there was no roaming. No meandering. No problem.
The elections team conducted its work within space outside that conference room. Occasionally, former Elections Director Allen Tempert would visit attendees in the conference room, letting them know why a glitch may have occurred or when a new bunch of ballots would be processed, and the tally updated.
Over time, fewer and fewer people would visit “Elections Central” on election night. Toward the end there might only have been a couple reporters present, a few candidates and their supporters, some citizens and a security person.
Slipping attendance is no better reason for closing the event to the public than is the weak meandering and roaming notion.
Our Elections Department, support staff and volunteers have done outstanding jobs with election administration. We need not close them up and shutoff monitoring opportunity, particularly at a time when election conspiracy theories abound.
We’ve invested lots of money for fancy ballot paper and vote tabulation equipment to ensure elections integrity. Surely, we can afford a security guard for election night.
I’ll be covering the Nov. general election from my home. I nonetheless implore the Board of Supervisors to reverse the closure directive and open up an election night monitoring space for anyone who wants to be there.
Dave Hawkins
