2.01
Control Environment
Principle 2 - Exercise Oversight Responsibility
Attribute 2.01 - The oversight body should oversee the entity's internal control system.
Attribute Categories:
The following attributes contribute to the design, implementation, and operating effectiveness of this principle:
- Oversight Structure
- Oversight for the Internal Control System
- Input for Remediation of Deficiencies
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Jamie's Story
I directed questions to the Maricopa County Recorder, expecting a response since this is an elected position. I incorrectly assumed that elected officials would be interested in addressing citizen concerns. There was a brief interface between me and the Maricopa County Recorder. However, there was no response to my inquiries. I also receive no responses from the Arizona Secretary of State, who provides oversight to all Arizona County elections.
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 county elections as the Arizona Secretary of State. Relevant to this Green Book Attribute 2.01, Katie Hobbs oversight was ineffective.
Debbie Lesko provides an oversight role as a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (MCBOS). Her presentation of why two boxes of ballots could not be located for three days following a November 2025 election parroted the Election's Department statementfrom November 7, 2025. She seemed to be accepting of people not following procedures to place the boxes of ballots in an unauthorized location for transport and how fortuitous it was that they had coincidently been stored in an area with 24-hour surveillance. Hence, a person in an oversight role did not see the need to investigate the incident for the purpose of determining corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
Maricopa County's Ombudsman are unable to effectively provide oversight. Maricopa County has job positions with Ombudsman in the title. However, Maricopa County Ombudsmen 1) are not trained as Ombudsman, 2) are not operating within an internationally recognized process for Ombudsman, and do not have their independence legally established by statute or county ordinance. The Arizona Ombudsmen Citizens' Aide (ACOCA) has an effective ombudsman program. Maricopa County Ombudsmen lack the independence to provide effective oversight.
This Green Book Attribute 2.01 calls for the involvement of oversight. Contrary to this attribute, MC did not believe the Arizona Senate was entitled to oversee the election-related anomalies. 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 potential deviation from the Green Book standard applies to the following Arizona Senate Allegations:
- Allegation #1 Signature Verification
- Allegation #2, Maricopa Dropbox Collection (2020)
- Allegation #3, Maricopa Election Management Server (2020)
All of the following are sub-allegations of Allegation #3:
- MC EMS 2020 - Election Management System Database Purged
- MC EMS 2020 - Election Files Deleted
- MC EMS 2020 - Corrupt Ballot Images
- MC EMS 2020 - Missing Ballot Images
- MC EMS 2020 - Failure to Follow Basic Cyber Security Practices
- MC EMS 2020 - Subpoenaed Equipment Not Yet Provided
- MC EMS 2020 - Anonymous Logins
- MC EMS 2020 - Dual Boot System Discovered
- MC EMS 2020 - Operating System Logs Not Preserved
- MC EMS 2020 - Internet Connections to the EMS
- Allegation #4, Maricopa County Withholding Audit Data (2020)
- The uncooperative tone is clearly displayed by the MCBOS and MCBOS member Bill Gates.
There does not appear to have been any oversight of this issue. This issue was not addressed by Arizona Attorney General's Office 2020 General Election Investigation or the Arizona Secretary of State, which is officially responsible for overseeing elections administered by Arizona Counties, including Maricopa County.
