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

Arizona Secretary of State Investigated for Alleged Law Violation

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO) is currently investigating whether or not Katie Hobbs, former Arizona Secretary of State, violated the law. The investigation is related to Hobbs’ decision to suspend an online portal called E-Qual in March 2022, which allowed individuals running for legislative and congressional seats to gather signatures on nominating petitions. Due to the ongoing probe, records relating to the matter are being withheld from the public.

Despite multiple requests for comments, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office did not respond to The Epoch Times. Hobbs claimed that she took 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 Hobbs 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 warned her that taking E-Qual offline would be “either a class 6 felony or class 3 misdemeanor.” Arizona law states that the Secretary must provide a secure internet portal 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.

• The system shall allow only those qualified electors who are eligible to sign a petition for a particular candidate to sign the petition.
• Only those qualified electors who are eligible to give a qualifying contribution to that candidate can do so.
• The system shall provide a method for the qualified elector’s identity to be properly verified.

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.”