Arizona Capitol
By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
Republican lawmakers are asking Gov. Doug Ducey to sign a bill they concede has no practical effect.
Legislation on the governor’s desk would make it illegal to allow someone to register to vote on Election Day. Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, called it a “very distrustful process.”
Only thing is, that’s not legal now. Anyone who has not registered at least 29 days before the election cannot legally cast a ballot.
And Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Glendale, pointed out during Senate debate this week that this does not – and cannot – tie the hands of future legislators who, if they have the votes, would be free to repeal it.
But that didn’t stop Hoffman from getting his Republican colleagues in both the House and Senate to approve a separate ban. And the bill awaiting action by the Republican governor even includes the threat of a year in state prison for anyone who registers someone on Election Day and allows them to vote.
As it turns out, voters – at least those who do get registered at least 29 days ahead of this year’s November 8 general election – could get the last word.
That’s because petitions are now being gathered on an initiative proposal seeking major changes in voting laws. It includes a specific provision to not only allow same-day registration but even to automatically sign people up to vote when they get an Arizona driver’s license.
And a voter-approved measure would not only trump Hoffman’s HB2237, but also preclude future lawmakers from curbing or repealing it entirely.
Hoffman does not dispute that no one can now register and vote on the same day. But he argued to colleagues during debate in the House Committee on Government and Elections that his legislation is needed.
“Same-day voter registration is not something that the majority of Arizonans want,” he said.
Rep. Sarah Liguori, D-Phoenix, asked him how he determined that to be true.
“That’s me opining,” Hoffman responded. And he argued that same-day registration “where it’s used has proven to be a very distrustful process.”
Nor was he dissuaded by the fact that it can’t now happen without a change in state law.
“Legislators don’t always have to wait for problems to come before they address them,” Hoffman said.
Quezada, however, saw a different motive behind the measure.
“This is just a political platform to expound upon the Big Lie that our elections are not safe and that our voter registration procedures are not legitimate,” he said.
