FAQs

Elect Anne Carl for Cochise County Recorder 2024

When is the next election? When does Early Voting begin? When do I need to register to vote or request an early ballot?

 All these important dates can be found here or here.
** NOTE: This year’s Primary Election will now be held on July 30, 2024. **

How do I register to vote or check my voter registration?

At the Arizona Voter Information Portal, you can check your voter registration status, find your polling location, request a ballot-by-mail, and more. You can register to vote here.

How do I make sure my vote was received if I voted by mail?

You can check the status of your provisional ballot here.

Where’s my polling location?

Cochise County offers 18 Vote Center locations countywide. Voters may vote at any of the Vote Centers. There is a map of them here.

What does the Recorder do?

The Recorder’s office provides two essential services to county residents:

    • Preserving documents, mainly those that affect title to property or give public notice of rights or claims, and making the documents that are public accessible and findable later.
    • Ensuring that Cochise County has safe, reliable and transparent elections.

Click on About the County Recorder for more information.

The Recorder’s Office also maintains an FAQ page that provides additional information.

What does Anne Carl think about {Any Political Position}?

The Recorder is a non-partisan position and does not make law. As Recorder, Anne Carl will ensure that the office will be operated in compliance with all applicable laws. Anne will also ensure that Recorder services will be provided equally to all without favor or bias.

Why does Anne Carl want to be the Recorder?

Anne Carl wants to enhance and improve the services provided by the Recorder’s office such as providing free opt-in notification services when a document is recorded in a specific individual’s name or business name. This will help to address the problem of fraud. Anne wants to ensure that the Recorder’s office is operated cost effectively and in compliance with all laws. Anne also wants to ensure that Public Record Requests are responded to in a timely manner.

What is Anne Carl’s position on hand counting all ballots?

Anne’s position is that county election officials must comply with Arizona law. Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S) § 16-602 requires a careful, randomized hand count audit. However, and in part because full hand counts are relatively inaccurate, costly and time-consuming, a full hand count is not allowed except under limited circumstances. See A.R.S. § 16-602 for the details about ballot hand counts.

I don’t trust the machines. Why should I?

Anti-democracy disinformation campaigns continue across our County, State, Country and World. They are not going away, however much they divide us and make us weaker by impacting our ability to trust one another, particularly those conducting our elections. So it is important that Arizona voters get and share the correct information about Arizona’s ballot tabulation machines.

Arizona’s machines are different from and safer than those used in some other places. For example, Arizona’s machines are not connected to the internet, and they use a paper record. Furthermore, they are tested and retested before and after each election. Anne Carl has participated in these tests. She knows first-hand how accurate the machines have been, and how frequently inaccurate the hand counting of ballots to test those machines has been.

France hand counts its presidential election ballots, and that count goes quickly and accurately. Surely ours can too. Why not?

There are many differences between French and U.S. elections, but perhaps the biggest is that France’s presidential election is a single contest, whereas an area like Cochise County often has 50 different contests going on per each General Election. Consider all the different school boards, fire districts, propositions, and county, state and federal contests taking place all across the County then. There is not simply one ballot; there are many different ballots being used and counted per county. Additionally, there is not one time zone or even one set of rules being applied across the whole Country, as there are in France. Instead, there are 50 different sets of state laws and policies being applied. Although France does not have mail-in ballots to count, it does allow proxy voting, which we do not allow. Also, the French vote on Sunday, a day-off for most people, instead of Tuesday. This makes the in-person voting process itself go smoother, because people trickle in to vote throughout the day instead of crowding in at the last minute. France and US populations also differ greatly: ~65 million vs. ~335 million people, respectively. Finally, France uses no Electoral College, which removes another layer of complexity in determining who is president.

Why can’t all ballots just be hand counted?

Arizona law only allows a full hand count under limited circumstances. See A.R.S. § 16-602 for the law on hand counting and A.R.S. Title 16, Chapter 4 for all of the laws pertaining to the conduct of elections. All county officials, including the Recorder, must comply with Arizona law. County officials who do not comply with Arizona laws may be subject to indictment and prosecution.

Hand counting all ballots is significantly more costly and less accurate than machine counting with hand count audits of sufficient ballots to audit the machine count. This less accurate and more time-consuming method would burden and cause waste for Cochise County taxpayers. Link to the AG opinion is: https://www.azag.gov/opinions/i22-004-r22-010

Violations of law by county officials can result in further wasteful expense to Cochise County taxpayers as was the case during the 2022 elections. See, e.g.:

What is Anne Carl’s party affiliation? 

This important office must serve all Cochise County residents equally regardless of party. Although registered as a Democrat, Anne Carl has been a Republican, has many dear Republican, Libertarian and non-party-affiliated friends and family members supporting her, and will manage the Recorder’s Office without any political agenda. Because Cochise County Recorder is a non-partisan position, party affiliation is not required to run for the position.

What is Anne Carl’s position on mail-in voting?

The Recorder is responsible for ensuring that all elections are carried out fairly, transparently and in full compliance with all applicable laws. Arizona law provides for Mail-in voting and it allows people who may not be able to vote in person such as service members serving out of state or disabled voters. As the Recorder, Anne Carl will never take any position that would disenfranchise any eligible voter or violate the law. The Recorder is a non-partisan position and Anne Carl values a fair, fully functioning, lawful and transparent democratic process. As such, she will continue advocating for laws and policies promoting the same.

Are records available online?

Most public records going back to 1985 are available online. However, some records, such as military discharge records are private. It’s also essential that the Recorder ensures that Social Security numbers and other private data are redacted from records before they are made available online.

The Recorder maintains a How Do I Find page for more information on finding records online.