By Howard Fischer
Mail | X: @azcapmedia

PHOENIX — Gov. Katie Hobbs delivered her promised veto Tuesday of a Republican bill to revamp the deadline to turn in early ballots.

But Hobbs, in her message to lawmakers, chose to focus her objections to House Bill 2703 on a lesser-known provision of the measure, one she said would undermine the system that allows people to get their ballots by mail without having to make annual requests.

That change would affect far more Arizonans than the 265,000 who would lose their ability to drop off their early ballots on Election Day — what was the key provision in the now-vetoed bill.

Proponents argued the practice slows the process of getting faster election returns. That’s because early ballots submitted on Election Day cannot be counted until after the signatures are compared, something that can’t occur until after the polls are closed.

The bill’s Friday drop-off deadline, they argued, would allow ballot envelopes to be opened and tallied before the big rush on Election Day.

People would still have been able to take their early ballots to vote centers on Election Day. But they would have had to produce identification, something not now needed for a simple drop-off.

Hobbs, in her veto message, said she would have accepted the Friday deadline — but only if GOP lawmakers agreed to other changes in law, such as allowing people to register the same day they vote. Current law cuts off registration 29 days before an election.

The governor also wanted to ensure those who move from one county to another would not have to reregister.
But that left something in the measure Hobbs said she could not accept.

Right now, individuals can sign up for the Active Early Voting List to ensure they will get a ballot in the mail.

Of note is that under current law, individuals who use those early ballots on a regular basis continue to get them ahead of every election. Right now there are nearly 3.3 million Arizonans on that list — three out of every four people registered to vote.

HB 2703 sought to change all that, saying anyone who is an early mail voter would have to take an “affirmative act” before every election cycle in the state’s two largest counties — every other cycle elsewhere — confirming his or her address.

That could be done by mail, including responding to a notice from the county recorder, a phone call or through a county website or portal.

Rep. Alexander Kolodin who was an architect of the legislation, said such confirmation is in the voter’s interest. The Scottsdale Republican said it ensures that person will get the early ballot at his or her address.

On the flip side, Kolodin said it prevents early ballots going out to homes where people no longer live, something he said is bad for election security.

Hobbs chided lawmakers for adding that provision and the additional hurdle into what originally was introduced as a measure to speed up final returns.

“This legislation effectively ends the Active Early Voting List, something that has nothing to do with faster election results, but disenfranchises voters by additional steps for the hundreds of thousands of voters who prefer to vote by mail,” she said. “Making it less convenient to vote is something I have consistently said I cannot support.”

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat like Hobbs, said he supports the governor’s decision.

“The reality is that early voting is the primary method of voting in Arizona,” he said. “Any attempt to erode that would be a mistake.”

Hobbs, in her veto, said she remains open to “good-faith negotiations.”

Republicans, however, have shown no interest in compromise.

On Monday, anticipating the veto, the House approved HCR 2013 which contains all of the same provisions — but in a form where it would go not to Hobbs for her approval but instead directly to voters in 2026.

That measure, however, includes something not in the vetoed bill: A ban on election officials using any funds from foreign sources, directly or indirectly, to administer an election.
State law already prohibits foreign donations to campaigns.

This is designed to say that such funds cannot be used by election officials to help them do their jobs.