By Ben Giles | Arizona Capitol Times
House Republicans advanced a measure to purge as many as 200,000 voters from Arizona’s early ballot mailing list despite concerns from county recorders, who aren’t certain that all counties can even comply with the bill’s mandate.
The Secretary of State’s Office estimates that Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita’s SB1188 would impact tens of thousands of voters who are on the state’s Permanent Early Voting List, or PEVL, that didn’t either mail a ballot back in or drop it off at a polling place or election center for either the primary or general election in two consecutive election cycles.
Ugenti-Rita, a Scottsdale Republican, said Democrat claims that voters will be disenfranchised by being removed from the PEVL rolls are off base – they’ll still be registered to vote, after all, and could either vote in-person or re-up their PEVL registration if they want to get ballots by mail again.
“This is a meaningful improvement because it’s important that our data is accurate and up to date and we’re communicating with voters who want to vote by mail,” Ugenti-Rita said during a House Elections Committee hearing on March 26. The bill passed 6-4 along party lines.
For those who don’t participate in elections by using the ballot mailed to them, “you’ve clearly demonstrated that voting by mail is maybe not your thing, and that’s OK, it’s not a problem,” she added.
Elections officials would prefer to take a different tact.
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