voting; equipment; internet; custody; violation, the official text

PREFILED    DEC 19 2025

REFERENCE TITLE: voting; equipment; internet; custody; violation

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SB 1037

Introduced by

Senators
Finchem: Rogers

AN
ACT

amending section 16-442, Arizona Revised
Statutes; amending title 16, chapter 4, article 9, Arizona Revised Statutes, by
adding section 16-567; amending title 16, chapter 4, article 10, Arizona
Revised Statutes, by adding section 16-605; relating to the conduct of
elections.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 16-442, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-442. Committee approval; adoption of vote tabulating equipment;
experimental use; emergency

A. The secretary of state shall appoint a committee
of three persons, to consist of a member of the engineering college at one of
the universities, a member of the state bar of Arizona and one person familiar
with voting processes in [the] this
state, [no] not more than two of whom
shall be of the same political party, [and] at least one of
whom shall have at least five years of experience with and shall be able to
render an opinion based on knowledge of, training in or education in electronic
voting systems, procedures and security. The committee shall
investigate and test the various types of vote recording or tabulating machines
or devices that may be used under this article. The committee shall
submit its recommendations to the secretary of state who shall make final
adoption of the type or types, make or makes, model or models to be certified
for use in this state. The committee shall serve without
compensation.

B. Machines or devices used at any election for
federal, state or county offices may only be certified for use in this state
and may only be used in this state if they comply with the help America vote
act of 2002 (p.l. 107-252; 116 stat. 1666; 52 united states code
sections 20901 through 21145) and if those machines or devices have been
tested and approved by a laboratory that is accredited pursuant to the help
America vote act of 2002.

C. After consultation with the committee prescribed
by subsection A of this section, the secretary of state shall adopt standards
that specify the criteria for loss of certification for equipment that was used
at any election for federal, state or county offices and that was previously
certified for use in this state. On loss of certification, machines
or devices used at any election may not be used for any election for federal,
state or county offices in this state unless recertified for use in this state.

D. The secretary of state may revoke the
certification of any voting system or device for use in a federal, state or
county election in this state or may prohibit for up to five years the
purchase, lease or use of any voting system or device leased, installed or used
by a person or firm in connection with a federal, state or county election in
this state, or both, if either of the following occurs:

1. The person or firm installs, uses or permits allows the use of a voting system
or device that is not certified for use or approved for experimental use in
this state pursuant to this section.

2. The person or firm
uses or includes hardware, firmware or software in a version that is not
certified for use or approved for experimental use pursuant to this section in
a certified voting system or device.

E. The governing body of a city or town or the board
of directors of an agricultural improvement district may adopt for use in
elections any kind of electronic voting system or vote tabulating device
approved by the secretary of state, and thereupon the voting or marking device
and vote tabulating equipment may be used at any or all elections for voting,
recording and counting votes cast at an election.

F. The secretary of state or the governing body may
provide for the experimental use of a voting system or device without a final
adoption of the voting system or device, and its use at the election is as
valid as if the machines had been permanently adopted.

G. The secretary of state shall
ensure that Vote recording and vote tabulating machines and devices that are
approved for use pursuant to this section:

1. Have all operating systems and
software configured to the appropriate level of security consistent with best
practices in STANDARDS issued by the United States department of homeland
security cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency.

2. do Not have hardware installed
that supports internet connectivity or any other form of remote access or
software that allows any change to results in files or a database.

3. Support the usage and tracking of
users based on unique CREDENTIALS that are changed at least once per election
cycle for each user.

4. Log any deletions of ballot
images, windows event logs and results files.  The system also shall maintain
election software logs.

5. Maintain for twenty-two months as
election data the data prescribed in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this subsection.

[G.] H. After
consultation with the committee prescribed by subsection A of this section, the
secretary of state may approve for emergency use an upgrade or modification to
a voting system or device that is certified for use in this state if the governing
body establishes in an open meeting that the election cannot be conducted
without the emergency certification. Any emergency certification
shall be limited to [no] not more than
six months. At the conclusion of the certification period the voting
system or device shall be decertified and unavailable for future use unless
certified in accordance with this section. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Title
16, chapter 4, article 9, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
section 16-567, to read:

START_STATUTE16-567. Polling place and voting center equipment; custody; violation;
classification

A. notwithstanding
any other law, any voting equipment that is used in a polling place or voting
center may not have internet access and must prohibit access by any means to
any data or results. if the equipment has an accessible port, the
port must be locked with a tamper-proof seal and must be logged in the chain of
custody document when broken or accessed.  the delivery, use and return of the
equipment shall be logged on a chain of custody document so that the name and
signature of every person who delivers, receives, uses and returns that
equipment is recorded and retained as an official election record.

B. a person who violates this section
is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.

Sec. 3. Title 16, chapter 4, article 10,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 16-605, to read:

START_STATUTE16-605. Counting center equipment; election results; data; custody;
violation; classification

A. notwithstanding
any other law, any tabulation equipment that is used in a central counting
center or other tabulation center may not have internet access and must
prohibit access by any means to any data or results until used by authorized
election personnel only. if the equipment has an accessible port,
the port must be locked with a tamper-proof seal and must be logged in
the chain of custody document when broken or accessed. only
authorized personnel, including political party observers, may be present at
the tabulation of votes. the use and return of the equipment that
contains election results and data, including any removable data storage
device, shall be logged on a chain of custody document so that the name and
signature of every person who delivers, receives, uses and returns the storage
device or other equipment that contains election data and election results is
recorded and retained as an official election record. for any
removable storage device, two observers who are not members of the same
political party shall be present at all times, including the insertion and
removal of the device and during any transportation of the
device. the removable storage device may not be under the sole
custody and control of only one person.

b. notwithstanding any other law, all
activities at the counting center shall be included in a nonstop video that is
posted to the county's website.

c. a person who violates this section
is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor. END_STATUTE