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Pima County and a lawyer for the Democratic Party have asked the attorney general to investigate allegations that last year's regional transportation election results were tampered with, and that the half-cent sales tax actually may have failed.

Documents filed in Pima County Superior Court Thursday say attorney William Risner, who represents the county Democratic Party, first made the request to the state sometime before May 17.

The documents, which were filed by the County Attorney's Office, don't reveal the basis for the complaint, other than noting that Risner was alleging "criminal activity," saying a Pima County elections employee "flipped" or electronically altered, the RTA election results.

Risner was not available for comment Friday.

Since July 1 the Regional Transportation Authority has collected $47 million from the half-cent sales tax, approved by 58 percent of voters the previous May. The money is to pay for a 20-year, $2 billion regional transportation plan approved at the same election.

Gary Hayes, RTA executive director, said the organization was unaware of the complaint until being contacted by the Arizona Daily Star.

He said until somebody actually finds there was a problem, the organization will continue moving ahead.

"I don't see it stopping us in the short term from doing anything we committed to voters," said Hayes.

If the election was flawed and the results need to be changed, RTA lawyers will get involved as necessary, he said.

While he believes the allegations are untrue, Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry submitted his own investigation request Thursday to validate the credibility of the announced election results. He said he has no specifics about Risner's complaint.

Jeff Rogers, second vice chair of the Pima County Democratic Party, said that while looking at data related to the 2006 general election, the party discovered "unusual" data about the regional transportation election.

Despite what the county attorney's documents state about Risner's complaint, the party isn't alleging any wrongdoing, just pointing out that things don't look right, Rogers said. The concern relates to someone re-saving a vote-summary document the day after the election, though it shouldn't have been altered once the final count was complete, he said.

Risner represents the Democrats in a public records lawsuit over how the county administered the 2006 general election. The questions about the validity of the RTA results came up during a May 17 meeting between Risner and Deputy County Attorney Karen Friar, Friar wrote in a court motion asking for the general election case to be put on hold pending the outcome of the RTA complaint.

The Attorney General's Office will not comment or confirm whether an investigation was requested, a spokeswoman said.

Until the case is resolved, Huckelberry has ordered records relating to the May RTA election and the November general election be kept in secure storage, and that county elections employees have no access to the election records "without independent oversight and supervision."

"This will ensure that County Administration and the Division of Elections cannot be accused of having independent access to the ballots and altering" them, he wrote in the memo.

That's the same reason the Pima County Democratic Party is investigating past elections, including the 2006 general election, Rogers said — to ensure the integrity of the results. The party is trying to gain access to election records.

Rogers said Friar's motion is just another delay, Rogers said.

"From very beginning of this lawsuit they have tried to keep us from seeing records," he said.

More local, state and national political coverage at azstarnet.com/politics