X

Arizona Adopts Election Reform Bill That Stops Some Voters From Automatically Receiving Absentee Ballots

Andrew Trunsky 

Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed an election reform bill Tuesday that could stop thousands of voters from automatically receiving an absentee ballot ahead of an upcoming election.

SB 1485 would remove voters who have not participated in Arizona’s last four elections from its permanent early voting list, which allows them to automatically receive absentee ballots ahead of elections. Partisan primaries are included as separate elections, meaning that a voter could be removed if they fail to vote back-to-back election cycles, but they must also first fail to respond to mail notices alerting them.

“Arizona is a national leader when it comes to election integrity and access to the ballot box, and today I signed #SB1485 to continue that legacy,” Ducey wrote on Twitter after signing the bill.

Voters are barred from removal until 2025, meaning that those on the roles will remain through the next two electoral cycles. The bill passed the state Senate earlier Tuesday on a 16-14 party-line vote.

Critics say that the bill could remove over 125,000 voters, a disproportionate share of whom are Latino.

The bill faced a rocky journey through Arizona’s Republican-controlled state legislature. After passing in the Senate and amended before passing the House, it temporarily stalled when the Senate was set to pass the amended version due to a controversial audit of the 2020 election that had begun in the state, but ultimately passed.

The GOP-backed audit of the state’s mail-in ballots follows multiple reviews that found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the state, which President Joe Biden narrowly won.

The audit has alarmed both Arizona election officials and the Department of Justice, which has suggested that it may violate federal election laws.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

James Williams: Jim Williams is the Washington Bureau Chief, Digital Director as well as the Director of Special Projects for Genesis Communications. He is starting his third year as part of the team. This is Williams 40th year in the media business, and in that time he has served in a number of capacities. He is a seven time Emmy Award winning television producer, director, writer and executive. He has developed four regional sports networks, directed over 2,000 live sporting events including basketball, football, baseball hockey, soccer and even polo to name a few sports. Major events include three Olympic Games, two World Cups, two World Series, six NBA Playoffs, four Stanley Cup Playoffs, four NCAA Men’s National Basketball Championship Tournaments (March Madness), two Super Bowl and over a dozen college bowl games. On the entertainment side Williams was involved s and directed over 500 concerts for Showtime, Pay Per View and MTV Networks.
Related Post