Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill to Expedite Ballot Counting in Swing State

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs speaks at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix on May 2, 2024. Matt York/AP Photo

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Feb. 18 vetoed a bill aimed at speeding up ballot counting in the state, citing concerns that it would make voting more difficult.

House Bill 2703, introduced by Republican state Rep. Laurin Hendrix, would have changed Arizona election laws by eliminating emergency voting centers and setting a new deadline for voters to drop off early ballots.

Hobbs said earlier this month that she would veto the measure amid concerns that it could create difficulties for voters, leading to negotiations with lawmakers that ultimately stalled.

In a Feb. 18 statement posted to the social media platform X, Hobbs said she had offered compromises that would have sped up election results in the state while also protecting voting rights.

Those compromises were ultimately rejected, prompting her to veto the measure, the governor said.

Hobbs said she was concerned that the legislation would restrict late-early ballot drop-offs and effectively end Arizona’s Active Early Voting List, therefore “gutting the vote by mail program that countless Arizonans rely on.”

“I offered compromises that include that change, but also policies like same day voter registration, cross-county portability of registration, and more assistance for eligible voters to return their ballots to protect voter access,” Hobbs stated. “Compromise was rejected.”

Election results in Arizona tend to come in later than in other states, in part because of a state-mandated signature verification process for mail ballots and a surge in emergency voting during the weekend before Election Day.

Under current law, voters can drop off their mail ballots at polling places until 7 p.m. on Election Day. As a result, the state has taken close to two weeks to report its results in recent elections.

Veto a ‘Huge Mistake,’ Senate President Says

The legislation rejected by Hobbs would have prohibited many voters from dropping off their mail-in ballots on Election Day, moving the deadline to the Friday before instead.

Doing so would have allowed election officials to collect the majority of mail ballots before election night and begin the time-consuming signature verification process earlier.

The measure would also have required voters to go to specific voting locations—depending on where they lived—over the weekend before an election to show identification and sign an early voter affidavit in order to drop off their ballot.

The measure stated that Arizona’s delayed results are “sometimes perceived as evidence of election worker incompetence or inefficiency or as an opportunity for unscrupulous participants to affect the ballot tabulation process improperly.”

Because of delays in reporting final results, public confidence in Arizona’s voting system has declined, the measure stated.

“By decentralizing and streamlining the process for confirming voter identity associated with late early ballots and eliminating emergency voting during the days immediately before election day, Arizona can substantially reduce administrative burdens, speed up the ballot tabulation process and increase confidence in the electoral system,” the legislation stated.

Senate President Warren Petersen, who sponsored the measure, called Hobbs’s veto “a huge mistake” and “a missed opportunity to increase voter confidence and reduce frustration on election night.”

In a Feb. 18 statement, Petersen said lawmakers remain committed to making “commonsense and proven changes” to the state’s election processes.

“Arizona should never again be the laughingstock of the nation for its woefully slow election reporting,” he said. “Our caucus will be discussing a path forward on this issue in the days and weeks ahead.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.