By Andrew Oxford | Arizona Republic
A lone Republican joined with Democrats in the state Senate on Tuesday to block a bill that would have removed voters from the permanent early voting list who do not vote early in four consecutive primary and general elections.
With Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale, siding with Democrats, the Senate blocked the bill by a vote of 15-15.
In turn, the bill’s sponsor immediately moved to stop one of Boyer’s bills. In an unexpected and dramatic moment of parliamentary intrigue, the Senate voted 20-10 to recall his legislation expanding Arizona’s school voucher program, which it had passed the day before.
The episode highlighted for a second time on the Senate floor the tensions within a Republican caucus that has the slimmest of majorities after losing a seat in the last election, thinning its ranks to 16 members in a 30-member chamber.
Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita’s Senate Bill 1069 would have ended the permanent early voting list as it is known today, removing the word “permanent” from its name and labeling it simply the early voting list, or EVL.
Under the bill, county election officials would remove a voter from the list if the voter does not vote by early ballot in both the primary election and the general election for two consecutive elections.
Counties would have to notify voters first.
