September 2, 2025
PHOENIX, AZ – Late last week, community groups issued a joint letter commenting on the first draft of the 2025 Election Procedures Manual (EPM). The letter commends several of the EPM’s recommendations and suggests additional changes, including the group’s recommendations to consult with community partners when establishing new voting locations and ensuring that ID requirements include Tribal IDs, among other practices and policies.
“We would like to first thank the Secretary of State’s office for the opportunity to work collaboratively with your office in providing recommendations and comments on the Election Procedures Manual (EPM), ” the groups wrote in their letter to Secretary of State Fontes. “After reviewing the 2025 Elections Procedures Draft that was released at the beginning of August, we have compiled our list of recommendations and comments from our democracy coalitions for the final manual.”
The letter went on to describe other recommendations, including more robust election day contingency plans, providing auditory resources for voters speaking historically unwritten languages like Navajo, and ensuring that a voter’s gender identity or presentation on their ID does not affect their right to cast a ballot. The groups concluded their letter by encouraging election officials to make these suggested changes to the 2025 Election Procedures Manual to better serve all Arizona voters.
The letter can be read here.