As Townhall reported this week, Arizona's Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — in the middle of her own campaign for governor of the Grand Canyon State — oversaw a election data error that saw 6,000 Arizonans end up improperly flagged as ineligible to vote in non-federal elections. Now, more information about Hobbs' work schedule may shine more light on how such an error occurred and why Hobbs' GOP opponent Kari Lake is finding her attacks on the secretary of state's "incompetent" handling of elections are working.
As it turns out, Hobbs apparently showed up to her own office on just 19 days in a six-month period from April to October as she campaigns for governor and apparently leaves the business of the secretary of state up to those who do show up to the office on a normal, regular basis.
The details of Hobbs' frequent absence from her official office came via analysis of public records obtained by Fox News Digital:
Between April 1 and Oct. 14, Hobbs has swiped her security badge at the Arizona state Capitol Building, which houses the secretary of state’s office, a total of 19 days, according to documents obtained through a public records request and shared with Fox News Digital.
[...]
Some of Hobbs’ absences from her office have lasted weeks. She didn’t enter the Capitol building for nearly a month in April and again in August, the records showed.
Still, as Fox News Digital noted, Hobbs claimed as recently as October 13 that she remains "actively involved" with her day job as Arizona's chief elections officer... yet the state records showed Hobbs hadn't accessed her office in roughly a week at the time she said she was actively involved in her office.
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Katie Hobbs claims she’s “actively involved” in her day job as Secretary of State…
— Jesse Hunt (@JJHunt10) October 20, 2022
Turns out she has only been at her office 19 days in 6 months https://t.co/nBbIqwS0mA
And of course, this apparent lack of time working in the secretary of state's office doesn't help explain Hobbs' refusal to debate Kari Lake — it's not like Hobbs is too busy working late nights to ensure that the 2022 elections run well in Arizona to face her Republican opponent.
For its part, Katie Hobbs' office told Fox News Digital that "Hobbs and many of the dedicated staff of the SOS have been working remotely," seeking to scapegoat Hobbs' absence on COVID-19 despite President Biden's repeated statements that the U.S. has already declared its independence from COVID and that the pandemic "is over."
While it may be possible to run Arizona's elections remotely — not that Hobbs has proven that with her recent ballot data error that saw thousands of voters incorrectly identified and at least 1,000 Arizonans receive the wrong absentee ballots — does Hobbs expect to lead and run the state as governor remotely?
Meanwhile, even Hobbs' fellow statewide Democrat Mark Kelly — who is trying to protect his U.S. Senate seat from GOP challenger Blake Masters — couldn't find any kind words to say about how the secretary of state is running her gubernatorial campaign:
NBC: I asked @SenMarkKelly about his decision not to campaign with @KatieHobbs
— Ben Petersen (@bennpetersen) October 20, 2022
MARK KELLY: "Hey, we each make our own decisions about how to run our campaign. I have a campaign that's built to win [...] What I suggest they do is just run a better campaign" #AZSEN #AZGOV pic.twitter.com/5dkVxZYZtu
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