Arizona Republican lawmakers advance bill that would let voters get rid of vote centers

Arizona Republicans advanced a proposal on Monday that — if approved by voters — would limit when and where voters can cast their ballots.

Most Arizona counties use voting centers. With that model, residents can cast a ballot at any vote center they choose in their area.

HCR2016 passed out of the state House of Representatives this week and would do away with that model in favor of precinct-based polling places.

In that system, residents would be required to vote only at one specific location in a smaller area.

It would also do away with the option to vote early in person at those locations.

GOP lawmakers said this measure will increase confidence in elections.

“We have become a laughingstock when it comes to elections, and these small steps are steps that we can take to instill trust back into our elections,” bill sponsor Rep. Rachel Keshel (R-Tucson) said.

She referred to issues with Maricopa County election tabulation in 2022. Longer, heavier ballots that year caused printers at several voting locations to fail at producing dark enough ballots to be read by tabulation machines. Those issues caused delays and frustrated voters.

Jackie Hai/KJZZ

It’s unclear how a precinct model would have alleviated that problem.

Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) claimed that “things started getting chaotic in our elections” around the time that Arizona moved away from precinct voting. Kolodin is also running for secretary of state.

The measure is opposed by the vast majority of county elections directors, who say the legislation would not be feasible to implement.

Democrats argue it would unnecessarily restrict options for voters.

Rep. Quantá Crews (D-Phoenix) recalled when Maricopa County used precinct voting and she rushed to make it to her designated polling place on time to vote, since she could only go to the one she was assigned.

“I remember rushing from downtown, going all the way back to Avondale, being stuck in traffic ’cause everyone and their mother is on the freeway trying to get back before 7 o’clock to get in line,” she said. “I remember standing in line, needing to go pick my kids up from day care, and then coming back in line with two toddlers trying to vote. I think Arizonans need options.”

Arizona used to have precinct voting exclusively, but shifted away from that over the last several years.

Keshel tried passing the same legislation last year in the form of a bill rather than a ballot referral, but it was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Since this year’s legislation would go to the ballot, it can bypass the governor’s veto stamp.

Implementing precinct voting would cost several million dollars, plus millions more every election year going forward. That’s mainly because the size of those precinct areas would be limited to a population of 2,500 voters. In other words, Arizona would need to establish many hundreds more polling places to have enough.