Probe Into Former Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ Shutdown of Online Nomination System Ongoing: Attorney General

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs delivers her State of the State address at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix on Jan. 9, 2023. Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo

Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has confirmed that it is still investigating whether or not Katie Hobbs violated the law while serving as Arizona Secretary of State.

The investigation stems from Hobbs’ decision in March last year to suspend an online portal called E-Qual for individuals running for legislative and congressional seats, allowing them to gather signatures on the nominating petitions that qualify them for such seats.

In an emailed statement to the Arizona Daily Independent, a spokesperson for the AGO said due to the ongoing probe, records relating to the matter are being withheld from the public.

“Regarding the public records request you submitted on 11/30/22 & 2/15/23, this is an active investigation and therefore we are unable to release any records pursuant to the best interest of the State,” the statement read.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office did not respond to multiple requests from The Epoch Times for comments.

In March 2022, Hobbs said she was taking down the E-Qual online system more than two weeks before the nominating period was set to end so that it could be reprogrammed to account for the new districts that were drawn by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission for the 2022 elections.

Brnovich Condemns Shutdown

However, then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich condemned the early shutdown as illegal, stating that the then-Secretary would face civil and criminal liability if she did so.

In a letter to Hobbs, his office asked the Secretary to swiftly “fix the system” and stated that she would violate Arizona law if she temporarily took E-Qual offline, warning her that doing so would be “either a class 6 felony or class 3 misdemeanor.”

Arizona law states that the Secretary must “provide a system for qualified electors to sign a nomination petition and to sign and submit a citizen’s clean elections five dollar contribution qualification form for a candidate by way of a secure internet portal.”

“The system shall allow only those qualified electors who are eligible to sign a petition for a particular candidate to sign the petition and only those qualified electors who are eligible to give a qualifying contribution to that candidate to do so and shall provide a method for the qualified elector’s identity to be properly verified,” it adds.

That pertains only to candidates for statewide and legislative offices, according to the law.

Hobbs’ aide Murphy Hebert fired back in a statement to local media at the time, stating, “The fact that the system may need to be offline for a period of time for updates to the system or, here, due to redistricting requirements beyond the control of our office, doesn’t amount to a violation of the statute.”

Legal Dispute Ongoing

Hobbs’s office later filed a motion (pdf) in Maricopa County Superior Court, arguing that in order to be eligible to sign a legislative or congressional candidate’s nomination petition, a voter must reside in the particular district where the candidate seeks to run and that to do so, the E-Qual portal needed to be updated.

“The AG’s position is baseless,” Hobb’s lawyers wrote in the motion, arguing that the then-Secretary did not violate state law and that Brnovich was threatening her with legal action “just for doing her job.”

“The Court should enjoin Defendants and their agents from initiating civil or criminal actions against the Secretary for doing so. The Court should also award the Secretary her attorneys’ fees and costs for having to bring this action,” her lawyers wrote.

Democrat Kris Mayes won the Arizona Attorney General race last year, replacing Brnovich. Hobbs was sworn in as governor on Jan. 2.

While it is unclear why there is a delay in concluding the probe into Hobb’s actions as Secretary of State, Mayes office did confirm to the Arizona Daily Independent that it would “provide any public records” on the ongoing investigation “as they become available to the public.”