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Arizona Election Observers: Rules and Constraints

This resource details state and federal laws that govern who can be an election observer, what they can do, and how election workers can oversee them.

Last Updated: September 26, 2024
Published: June 26, 2024
View the entire Election Observers Rules and Constraints series

Written and Published in Partnership with All Voting is Local.

Election observers, referred to as “political party observers” or “observers” in Arizona, are individuals who monitor voting locations and ballot counting sites. While election observers play an important role in providing transparency, they can also be a potential source of disruption and intimidation. For this reason, all states have a series of rules and constraints regarding who can serve as election observers and what they can do. Arizona’s rules on observers, which derive both from the state’s election code and from guidance issued by the secretary of state, are:

Appointment

Role of Observers

Prohibited Activities

Federal and state laws strictly prohibit all people, including observers, from engaging in voter intimidation. Any action that makes a voter feel intimidated, threatened, or coerced (including any effort to prevent a voter from registering to vote, voting, or voting for or against any candidate or ballot measure) could constitute voter intimidation, regardless of whether it breaks a specific rule.footnote22_fQkzWAxnlgoGEtY7gIa90V5pTR-8f9Ko1aXaCAnE-I_zHGfZDxladFk22 18 U.S.C. §§ 241, 594; 52 U.S.C. § 10101(b); and Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16–1013.More information on the federal and state laws that protect Arizona voters from intimidation can be found here.

Removal

  • Arizona’s secretary of state has expressly advised that election workers may remove observers from voting locations if they break the rules or fail to follow instructions, which is a very broad authority.footnote23_1RK-SctIMsX6c9PpaWmIkAp9BwhWvEy7fS32qOKIBGY_m6aUyhc93x2023AEPM, 139, 141; and “Guidance."
  • Poll workers and election officials should remove observers for failing to comply with a request to stop an activity that interferes with the election process, election staff, or poll workers or violates state, federal, or tribal law (if applicable).footnote24_U99R1tkHQWLoCCUMwL3eZvNa4zzBc3YHhA7WUk0WA8_rxsgytKLaFKu24AEPM, 139, 141; and “Guidance.”
  • Any observer who engages in prohibited activities may also face criminal charges.
  • Poll workers should inform the officer in charge of elections of difficult situations involving disruptive people, including observers. Inspectors and marshals may contact law enforcement for assistance but should use sound judgment in deciding whether doing so is necessary.footnote25_o9uZ4aAZokqg1NSl3BS2c0Nnp62SHMxBLvQpb1qYNU_d8dqm9yRXJD725AEPM, 182.

End Notes