Maricopa County's election leaders announced conflicting plans to address coronavirus concerns surrounding Tuesday's Presidential Preference Election — but a judge quashed one of them.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and the Maricopa County Recorder's Office split authority over elections. The board controls Election Day voting and emergency voting, and the recorder controls voter registration and early voting.

The Board of Supervisors announced that it will cut about 80 polling locations on Election Day due to polling locations and poll workers canceling, and a lack of needed cleaning supplies to stock all locations.

The remaining 151 polling locations will be converted to vote centers, meaning a voter can vote at any location — not just the one nearest to them.

"Folks should come on Election Day if they want to vote," Supervisor Bill Gates said. "It's going to be safe and there will be many places to do that."

Hours earlier, Recorder Adrian Fontes announced that his office would mail ballots to registered Democrats who have not yet cast ballots in Tuesday's Democratic Presidential Preference Election.

“We are in unchartered territory with the COVID-19. My first concern is to protect the health of the voters and staff who work in the polling places while maintaining the integrity of the election. Anything we can do to minimize human interaction in the polling place is what we must do,” Fontes said in a statement.

Fontes' plan was for ballots to arrive in mailboxes Monday and Tuesday, and encourage people to fill them out at home and drop them off at bins stationed at the entrance of polling places.

That would have limited contact with poll workers or other individuals. Health experts have recommended this kind of "social distancing."

The Board of Supervisors said that while it can't control what Fontes does, it did not agree with his plan and feared it would cause confusion for voters.

Legal authority unclear

It's not clear whether Fontes, a Democrat, actually had the legal authority to do what he wanted to do — he admitted that "there is no authority to mail ballots to all voters under the law, but there is no prohibition either."

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, disagreed with Fontes, saying the recorder "cannot unilaterally rewrite state election laws." Brnovich filed a lawsuit against Fontes and sought a temporary restraining order to prevent him from sending out the ballots.

"Fontes is creating chaos in our elections during an already difficult time. In times of crisis, the public looks to our elected officials to follow the law — not make reactionary decisions for political gain," Brnovich said.

Friday night, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge agreed with Brnovich and granted the restraining order, stopping Fontes from sending out ballots.

The state's top elections official, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, also told Fontes that he did not have the authority to mail a ballot to voters who have not requested one.

“As you know, I fully agree with you that authority for counties to conduct all-mail elections is good policy, and certainly an appropriate contingency plan in the event of a public health emergency like this. Unfortunately, it is not currently authorized by the law,” she wrote in an email to Fontes provided to The Republic.

Hobbs, a Democrat like Fontes, said she is working with others on legislation that would allow election officials to authorize all-mail elections in emergencies and move certain election-related deadlines.

Fontes wanted more options

Fontes said he had decided to mail ballots to traditional Election Day voters who are not on the Permanent Early Voting List after a number of polling place locations and volunteer poll workers canceled.

The Recorder's Office also said it does not have enough cleaning supplies to meet the county Health Department's directives for preventing the potential spread of disease in polling places.

Fontes said he supports the board's plan to keep as many polling places open as possible, but he also believes it's important to give people an additional option.

“Considering this unprecedented emergency situation, we need to act to both enfranchise the voters and protect public health. This plan accomplishes both of those goals,” Fontes said.

Reach the reporter at jessica.boehm@gannett.com or 480-694-1823. Follow her on Twitter @jboehm_NEWS.

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