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Arizona GOP lawmakers advance bill they say will bring faster election results

putting a ballot in a mailbox
Sky Schaudt/KJZZ
Early ballots go out in Maricopa County on Oct. 12, 2022.

Arizona Republican lawmakers on Wednesday advanced a bill designed to get voters the results of elections faster.

It can take county election officials up to two weeks to count votes following Election Day. One reason why is due to the hundreds of thousands of mail ballots Arizonans drop off on Election Day. Before those votes can be counted, those ballots must undergo a signature verification process.

Republican lawmakers are calling for a Florida-style deadline that would give voters until 7 p.m. on Friday before Election Day to return what are commonly referred to as "late early" ballots.

Before a House committee, newly elected Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap testified the deadline will lead to increased voter confidence.

“If results take two weeks to come out, no one is going to trust the results no matter what they are. And this is a huge source of frustration and concern for the voters,” Heap said.

Heap said he thinks three days will close the gap enough to get results on election night.

The bill advanced in the Senate on party lines. Democrats opposed to the measure argued against limiting the time voters have to return their ballots.

“I think this bill is an absolutely atrocious attempt to make it harder to drop off your early ballot,” Rep. Analise Ortiz (D-Phoenix) told her colleagues. She called the bill an “unfunded mandate” on counties which will cause voter confusion.

Gov. Katie Hobbs and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, both Democrats, have stated that they don’t like the idea of altering deadlines in ways that limit voter access.

Republican Sen. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) said this is in no way meant to disenfranchise voters but is a common sense solution to an issue Arizona voters of all political stripes want fixed.

“The stakes are high, and it makes us look very foolish, and it slows down the government and it annoys a lot of people,” Kavanagh said.

Several lawmakers, including the bill’s sponsor — Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) — met with the Florida secretary of state weeks ago to discuss what parts of the Florida elections system Arizona could adopt.

There are some key differences between Florida and Arizona which speakers in public comment highlighted.

Florida is roughly three times the size of Arizona in population and has 67 counties, whereas Arizona only has 15.

Florida’s counties are generally much smaller, both in terms of population and land size. Florida’s largest county covers 1,997 square miles, but Arizona’s largest — Cochise County — covers 18,661 square miles.

The bill has the support of the Arizona Association of Counties, which represents recorders in all 15 counties. Because counties administer elections, they’re a key group for lawmakers to court.

Arizona Association of Counties Executive Director Jen Marson said the majority of the counties support the bill with an agreed upon amendment — but it’s not unanimous.

The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office opposes the bill, as do a handful of groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, Our Voice Our Vote and Living United for Change in Arizona.

The bill does more than change the late-early drop-off deadline. It extends in-person early voting to the Saturday and Monday before election day. It also requires schools to allow counties to use their property as a polling place.

If a voter with an early ballot fails to turn it in before 7 p.m. on the Friday before election day, like the bill requires, then they would still be allowed to come to a polling place and fill out a new ballot in-person on election day.

Camryn Sanchez is a field correspondent at KJZZ covering everything to do with state politics.