Community View | Every vote must be counted

The sanctity of our political system lies in the notion that every vote counts. This fundamental belief, which is the cornerstone of democratic societies and republics like ours, is threatened when close elections are not counted accurately. In last year’s Attorney General race we saw first-hand how important it is to make sure every lawful vote is counted.

Every vote matters, but we are never more aware of this than in a close election. Every vote that is legally cast must be counted to ensure that the election outcome is accurate and reflects the will of the people. Any attempt to disenfranchise voters by excluding their votes from the final count is a direct attack on our representative democracy itself. Therefore, it is essential that every vote cast be counted, regardless of the political or ideological affiliations of the voters. Since the November 2022 general election, we have seen this issue arise in other counties, first in Maricopa County where they ran an abysmal Election Day, and then in Pinal County, where the county government certified an election that was marred in problems.

The government has a duty to be transparent in the counting of votes in a close election. This means that all parties involved, including election officials, must be open and transparent about the process of vote counting and the methodology used to determine the election outcome. This is particularly important in close elections, like the Attorney General’s race, which is the closest election in Arizona history. Not inspecting all of the ballots or counting all of the votes challenges the validity of the election.

Transparency in the vote-counting process is critical to ensuring the integrity of the election outcome. It is important that the public is able to observe the process of vote counting and that they have confidence in the accuracy of the final count. This will help to build trust in the electoral process and ensure that the outcome of the election reflects the will of the people.

(Ron Gould is the District 5 Mohave County Supervisor.)