'Excuse to reduce access': AZ governor vetoes GOP plan to end Election Day ballot drop-offs

18 February

An employee at Runbeck Election Services monitors early ballots being printed at the company’s facility in Phoenix.

Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a Republican proposal to speed up election results by adopting policies used in Florida that would have eliminated the way hundreds of thousands of Arizonans cast their ballot each year.

Senate Republicans have called the idea “wildly popular,” and the Arizona Republican Party has been pushing a phone and email campaign to encourage Hobbs to sign it into law.

But before House Bill 2703 had even been passed, its fate was known, after Hobbs declared she would veto it because Republicans were unwilling to make concessions. In response, Republicans lobbed the same accusation at the governor.

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The bill passed through the House of Representatives on Feb. 12 by a vote of 32-27, and it cleared the Senate a day later by a vote of 16-10. In both chambers, only Republicans voted in favor.

Among the changes HB2703 would have made is ending the practice of voters dropping their early ballots off at a polling place on Election Day, and instead requiring that they either go to the county recorder’s office if they want to drop a ballot off after 7 p.m. on the Friday before Election Day or stand in line at a polling place to show ID before inserting their early ballot in a ballot tabulator.

More than 264,000 Arizonans — nearly 8% of voters who cast a ballot — dropped off their early ballots on Election Day in November, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

The bill also would have required voters on the Active Early Voter List — who receive a ballot in the mail automatically — to confirm their address each election cycle or be booted off the list, and it sought to mandate that schools serve as polling locations if the county requested. Additionally, it would have expanded in-person early voting through the day before Election Day instead of ending it on the Friday before.

“While I too want faster election results, the solution should not needlessly restrict Arizona citizens’ freedom to vote, or undermine the learning and safety of students in public school districts,” Hobbs wrote in her veto letter. “This legislation effectively ends the Active Early Voting List, something that has nothing to do with faster election results, but disenfranchises voters by adding additional steps for the hundreds of thousands of Arizona voters who prefer to vote by mail.”

Hobbs has repeatedly said that she would veto any legislation that makes it more difficult to vote and outlined the compromises she said she was willing to make in order to make the legislation work. This bill is her first veto of the 2025 legislative session.

“Proposed changes included Friday early ballot drop off restrictions, while protecting the Active Early Voting List and some combination of same day voter registration, cross-county portability of voter registration, and expanded assistance for eligible voters to return their ballots in a timely manner,” Hobbs explained in her letter. “A negotiated bill that included some of these provisions would have shown Arizonans that it is possible to both speed up counting and expand voter access.”

Hobbs said in her letter that Republicans rejected those proposals.

Senate Democratic Leader Priya Sundareshen echoed Hobbs, saying that Republicans rejected their proposals in a video statement on the veto posted on X.

“Republicans attempted to use this moment as an excuse to reduce voter access under the guise of having election results called earlier when, in reality, expanding voter access and achieving faster election results are not mutually exclusive,” Sundareshen said. “I want to give my sincere thanks to Governor Hobbs for vetoing this measure and safeguarding Arizonans fundamental right to vote and to make their voices heard.”

Sundareshen’s Democratic colleagues in the House made similar statements.

Senate President Warren Petersen called the veto a “huge mistake” in a press release shortly after Hobbs announced the veto.

“This was a missed opportunity to increase voter confidence and reduce frustration on election night,” Petersen, a Queen Creek Republican, said in the written 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. This is not what Arizonans want from their state’s leaders. Republicans and Democrats should be able to work together to solve these issues in a bipartisan manner without resorting to political talking points.”

The statement went on further to say that Republicans are weighing their options on how to continue to pursue the legislation. Last year, Republican lawmakers sent a record number of ballot referrals to voters to avoid Hobbs’ veto pen.

“Status quo for our state’s elections is not an option. Arizona should never again be the laughingstock of the nation for its woefully slow election reporting. Our caucus will be discussing a path forward on this issue in the days and weeks ahead,” Petersen said.

Republicans have a similar proposal, House Concurrent Resolution 2013, which would be sent to voters in 2026 if approved by both chambers.

House Speaker Steve Montenegro directly alluded to sending the measure to voters in a post on X after the veto.

“Governor Hobbs and Democrat legislators continue to block reforms aimed at ensuring timely and transparent election results,” Montenegro said. “If they won’t act, we will—letting Arizona voters have the final say.”

“Katie Hobbs failing to sign even the most commonsense bills being placed on her desk. It’s pathetic,” Republican Governors Association spokesman Kollin Crompton said in a statement. “Arizona lags the nation in the time it takes to count ballots and report results. The insane wait in reporting results is bad for governance, and causes chaos and uncertainty for voters, elected officials, and the country. To voters this is common sense, and clearly Hobbs has none.”

Last November, Arizona was the last state in which the Associated Press called the presidential election results. The state has typically reported its full results about 13 days after the election for the past two decades.

Republicans began making a policy point of the count when Arizona started to become a swing-state and as the margins of victory became even more narrow in many races.

The bill would have curbed the drop off of “late earlies” at polling locations in a voter’s county by 7 p.m. the Friday before Election Day. Currently, voters can drop off their mail-in ballots at any polling place through 7 p.m. on Election Day. More than 264,000 Arizona voters drop off their early ballots on Election Day, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

***UPDATED: This story has been updated to include additional comments.

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