Pima County plans to hold four public meetings on its election security plan.
The county developed the plan in response to criticisms from election integrity activists and the Pima County Democratic Party, as well as an attorney general's investigation into the conduct of the 2006 Regional Transportation Authority election.
Critics say as vote counting has shifted to computers, Pima County has not instituted necessary safeguards and has left individual employees with too much access to the programs, raising the prospect election results could be tampered with.
A trial is under way this week to determine whether the county should release computer databases from previous elections to the Democratic Party.
The election security plan calls for numerous changes, including physically bringing vote-tabulating computers to election headquarters rather than transmitting results via modem.
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Also, Elections Division workers will not have administrative control of the computers, and no single staff member will know all the passwords required to access the vote-counting system.
A copy of the report is available on the Pima County Web site, www.pima.gov.
The meetings will take place at the following times and locations:
● 2 p.m. Friday at the Oro Valley Public Library, 1305 W. Naranja Drive, Oro Valley;
● 2 p.m. Monday at the Kirk-Bear Canyon Library, 8959 E. Tanque Verde Road;
● 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Pima County Public Works Building, 201 N. Stone Ave., Basement Conference Room C;
● 2 p.m. Dec. 14, Joyner-Green Valley Library, 601 N. La Cañada Drive, Green Valley.
Written comments and suggestions also will be accepted until Dec. 14. Mail comments to Pima County Division of Elections Office, 3434 E. 22nd St., Tucson, AZ 85713.
