Ahead of the legislative session beginning in January, Republican state Representative Kelly Townsend pre-filed a bill to restrict acceptable forms of identification for Arizona voters.
Arizona already won’t accept student IDs as identification at the polls in most cases since schools don’t typically print students' addresses on the cards, but Townsend’s bill would specifically prohibit high school, college or university IDs from being used to vote.
The bill would also ban voters from using utility bills, vehicle registrations or bank statements as proof of address.
The proposed restrictions are already raising concerns among voting rights advocates, like Morgan Dick with the Arizona Advocacy Network.
“We do not see rampant voter fraud across the state, and the system is working as it is, so we’re just a little confused why we’re trying to take options away from voters," Dick said.
Nationwide, student voter participation doubledfrom 2014 to 2018. In recent years, Republican lawmakers in several battleground states have pushed for restrictions on campus voting or use of student IDs at the polls.
KJZZ reached out to Townsend's office, but she declined to be interviewed about the proposed bill.
