Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the first bill of the legislative session on Thursday. The Republican bill would have sped up election results.
The bill was inspired by Florida election laws and would move up the deadline by which Arizona voters can drop off early ballots to a few days before election day.
Sponsors of the bill said it would grant Arizona much faster election results, but Hobbs pledged to veto it even before it got to her desk.
“I can support doing — taking action that will make election results happen faster, but we’re not going to do that in a way that disenfranchises voters, and that’s exactly what this bill does,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs and other Democrats say they’re concerned changing deadlines would affect hundreds of thousands of voters who are accustomed to dropping off their ballots at the polls.
Although this is Hobbs’ first veto of the year, she broke the record for most vetoes as Arizona governor over her first two years in office.
“If they were serious about negotiating a compromise that was fair for the voters they would have sat down and done that, not sent this to me as the first bill of the legislative session,” Hobbs said of the GOP lawmakers, accusing them of rejecting any compromises.
GOP lawmakers issued a press release soon after the veto calling Hobbs “irresponsible” for striking down a “wildly popular bill.”
Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) said he and his colleagues will look for other opportunities to get the legislation passed, which could mean sending the question to voters on the 2026 ballot.
"The governor's veto is a huge mistake. This was a missed opportunity to increase voter confidence and reduce frustration on election night," Petersen said in a statement. "Instead of working with Republicans in good-faith to provide much-needed reforms to our election processes, the governor impeded all efforts to ensure Arizona can report the vast majority of votes on Election Night.”
Hobbs said in her veto letter that she supports the idea of getting faster election results, but not if it limits voters.
