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REFERENCE TITLE: elections; unlawful voting; residence |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-third Legislature First Regular Session 2017
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SB 1370 |
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Introduced by Senator Griffin
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AN ACT
amending section 16-1016, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to unlawful voting.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 16-1016, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-1016. Illegal voting; pollution of ballot box; removal or destruction of ballot box, poll lists or ballots; classification
A person is guilty of a class 5 felony who:
1. Not being entitled to vote, knowingly votes.
2. Knowingly votes more than once at any election.
3. Knowingly votes in two or more jurisdictions in this state for which residency is required for lawful voting and the person is not a resident of all jurisdictions in which the person voted. For the purposes of this paragraph, a person has only one residence for the purpose of voting.
4. Knowingly votes in this state in an election in which a federal office appears on the ballot and votes in another state in an election in which a federal office appears on the ballot and the election day for both states is the same date.
3. 5. Knowingly gives to an election official two or more ballots folded together.
4. 6. Knowingly changes or destroys a ballot after it has been deposited in the ballot box.
5. 7. Knowingly adds a ballot to those legally cast at any election, by fraudulently introducing the ballot into the ballot box either before or after the ballots therein have been counted.
6. 8. Knowingly adds to or mixes with ballots lawfully cast, other ballots, while they are being canvassed or counted, with intent to affect the result of the election, or to exhibit the ballots as evidence on the trial of an election contest.
7. 9. Knowingly and unlawfully carries away, conceals or removes a poll list, ballot or ballot box from the polling place, or from possession of the person authorized by law to have custody thereof.
8. 10. Knowingly destroys a polling list, ballot or ballot box with the intent to interrupt or invalidate the election.
9. 11. Knowingly detains, alters, mutilates or destroys ballots or election returns.
Sec. 2. Legislative intent; voting in more than one jurisdiction illegal
A. It is the intent of the legislature by this act, after careful consideration of the case, to overrule State v. Hannah, 1 CA-CR 14-0424, filed July 28, 2015 (Ct. App. 2015) and to find, confirm and clarify that all of the following have been and continue to be the law of this state:
1. A voter has only one residence at a time for purposes of residency‑based voting.
2. A person may not lawfully be registered to vote in this state and another state.
3. For the purposes of determining whether a person has unlawfully voted more than once in any election, elections held on the same day in differing jurisdictions constitute the same election.
4. It is a criminal violation to knowingly vote unlawfully in more than one election held at the same time and it is a criminal violation without regard to whether one of the elections at issue is being held in another state.
B. It is the further intent of the legislature to confirm and clarify that:
1. One of the purposes of section 16-1016, subsection A, paragraph 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, has always been to prevent the dilution of votes by penalizing persons who unlawfully and knowingly vote simultaneously in more than one jurisdiction.
2. There is a conclusive presumption that unlawfully voting simultaneously in more than one jurisdiction dilutes the vote of lawful voters even if there are no shared candidates or issues on the ballots and even if some of those voters are in another state, and preventing the dilution of lawful votes by actions in this state is an important aspect of this state's election laws and is required under the Constitution of the United States.