Election experts say the proposal is riddled with problems that will make voting more difficult and cause confusion
Caitlin Sievers
Republicans in the Arizona Senate are looking to put a sweeping election reform resolution to voters this fall, and they’re not shy about the fact that it is designed to make it harder for Arizonans to vote.
“We’ve elevated convenience and comfort at the expense of faith and trust in the vote,” Sen. Wendy Rogers, the measure’s author, told the Senate Elections Committee on Thursday.
Rogers, a Flagstaff Republican and frequent purveyor of election conspiracy theories, chairs the committee.
By aiming to put House Concurrent Resolution 2056 to voters this fall, Republicans are trying to bypass a veto from Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who has not been shy about nixing election bills not backed by her party.
Bills that pass through the House and Senate must be signed by the governor to become law, but ballot referrals only require approval by the legislature, skipping the governor completely.
The wide-ranging 19-page measure, which Rogers called “long and legendary,” would ask voters to end the practice of voters dropping off early ballots at polling places on Election Day. Instead, they could only drop them off at early voting sites until 7 p.m. on the Friday prior to Election Day, beginning in 2026.
It would also require anyone dropping off early ballots to present identification to election officials at the polling place, and would require that all early ballots dropped off at early voting locations be tabulated onsite at that voting location — a provision sparking the most concern from county recorders, who said that the legislation will cause a plethora of problems in future elections.
While Maricopa County already tabulates most of its ballots at its voting centers on Election Day, eight of Arizona’s 15 counties don’t have the capability to do so. And even Maricopa doesn’t do that with its early ballots.
Rogers explained that the provision is meant to speed up the tabulation of the state’s election results, something that Republicans have been pushing for since Arizona began turning purple, with races too close to call on election night.
