1.06

Control Environment

Principle 1: Demonstrate Commitment to Integrity and Ethical Values

Attribute 1.06: Management establishes standards of conduct to communicate expectations concerning integrity and ethical values. The entity uses ethical values to balance the needs and concerns of different stakeholders, such as regulators, service organizations, employees, and the public. The standards of conduct guide the directives, attitudes, and behaviors of the organization in achieving its objectives.

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Jamie's Story

November 2022: Mid-term Election

Katie Hobbs was serving as the Arizona Secretary of State while running for Arizona Governor during the 2022 Mid-term elections. Katie was serving an oversight role for all Arizona county elections as the Arizona Secretary of State. Relevant to this Green Book Attribute 1.02, she refused to recuse herself from the oversight role, from which ethical questions arose. She was setting the tone at the top, complying with the law was important, but ethics, not so much. This sends a signal to subordinates; they may also demonstrate unethical behavior as long as it is legally compliant.

Election Anomalies

Arizona Senate Allegations

As already noted in Green Book Attribute 1.01, 1.02, 1.03 and 1.04 Arizona Senate allegations arose from a failure to recognize the Arizona Senates Oversight Role. These allegations were investigated and reported on by the Arizona Attorney General's Office 2020 General Election Investigation. The elected officials were considered as a possible oversight entity for MC operations.

This Green Book attribute emphasizes "Tone at the top can be either a driver, as shown in the preceding paragraphs, or a barrier to internal control." The MCBOS didn't cooperated with the Senate. The MCBOS did not respond to subpoenas issued (twice) by the Senate. Instead, the MCBOS chose to pursue court remedies to keep their information private and prevent outsiders from inspecting their equipment. If this is the tone at the top, how do you think subordinates would respond to inquiries?

This potential deviation from the Green Book standard applies to the following Arizona Senate Allegations:

• Allegation #1 Signature Verification
• Allegation #2, Maricopa Dropbox Collection (2020)
  • Standards were not evident with the following findings from AZ AG's inspector:
    • See the heading Deviation: Missing Entries on Election Forms from Maricopa Dropbox Collection (2020) webpage.
    • See the heading Deviation: Missing Ballot Counts from Maricopa Dropbox Collection (2020) webpage.
    • See the heading Deviation: Used Email instead of EVBTS Forms from Maricopa Dropbox Collection (2020) webpage.
    • See the heading Deviation: Unfulfilled Party Representation Requirements for Couriers from Maricopa Dropbox Collection (2020) webpage.
    • See the heading Deviation: Fictious Addresses in MC Voter Registration Database from Maricopa Dropbox Collection (2020) webpage.
    • See the heading Deviation: Allegations Confirmed from Maricopa Dropbox Collection (2020) webpage.

• Allegation #4, Maricopa County Withholding Audit Data (2020)
  • The uncooperative tone is clearly displayed by the MCBOS and MCBOS member Bill Gates.
• Allegation #5, Pima County Embedded 35,000 Votes (2020)
• Allegation #6, Unknown Published Election Fraud Flyer (2020)