Gov. Katie Hobbs on Wednesday appointed Scottsdale City Clerk Ben Lane to a Bipartisan Elections Task Force.

Created by Executive Order 2023-03 in January, the Governor’s Bipartisan Elections Task Force was formed to study and make recommendations to strengthen election laws, policies and procedures in the state of Arizona, according to a press release. This task force consists of experts from across Arizona’s elections community, who represent diverse political and geographic backgrounds.

The group will prepare and submit to the governor a final report by November with recommendations for improvements to the state’s election laws.

“Arizona’s voters deserve an election system that is free, fair, and secure. I look forward to the task force’s recommendations and will continue working toward meaningful election reform that will improve the democratic process for voters and election administrators in Arizona,” Gov. Hobbs said.

Lane has overseen three elections in Scottsdale since becoming city clerk in March 2021.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas A&M University, a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Prior to taking on his current role, he served as deputy city clerk in Phoenix for more than 10 years, where he managed campaign finance, early voting and voting day functions in more than 15 city-conducted elections.

Lane is a member of the Arizona Municipal Clerks’ Association, the Arizona City/County Management Association and the American Society for Public Administration. He holds a Certified Election Officer designation from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office.

“I am very honored to serve on this task force,” Lane said. “Thank you to the League of Arizona Cities and Towns for nominating me. I appreciate the support of the mayor, council and city leadership team and look forward to working with other election officials in making meaningful recommendations to the governor.”

Members of the Bipartisan Elections Task Force include:

• Adrian Fontes, Arizona secretary of state
• Ken Bennett, state senator district 1
• Laura Terech, state representative district 4
• Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, Pima County recorder
• Michelle Burchill, Yavapai County recorder
• Helen Purcell, former Maricopa County recorder
• Scott Jarrett, Maricopa County elections director (election day and emergency voting)
• Alma Schultz, Santa Cruz County elections director
• Ben Lane, city of Scottsdale city clerk
• Michael Moore, Maricopa Recorder’s Office, information security officer
• Ken Matta, election security expert
• Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, attorney and director of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Indian Legal Clinic
• Alex Gulotta, All Voting is Local, Arizona state director
• Don Henninger, The Carter Center, representative
• Renaldo Fowler, Arizona Center for Disability Law, senior staff advocate
• Christina Estes-Werther, former Arizona elections director and attorney
• Brad Nelson, former Pima County elections director

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.