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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Sixth Legislature, First Regular Session
VETOED
AMENDED
ballots; signature verification; observers
Purpose
Requires a county recorder and other officer in charge of elections to allow representatives of the two largest political parties to observe each stage of the signature verification process for early, provisional and conditional provisional ballots. Requires the county recorder and county officer in charge of elections to maintain election board worker and employee documentation in the form of a log at each stage of the signature and affidavit verification process.
Background
Any election called pursuant to Arizona law must provide for any qualified elector to vote by early ballot (A.R.S. § 16-541). A county recorder may establish on-site early voting locations at the county recorder's office, which must be open and available for use beginning the same day that the county begins to mail out early ballots (A.R.S. § 16-542). On receipt of an envelope containing an early ballot and ballot affidavit, a county recorder or other officer in charge of elections must compare the affidavit signature with the signature on the elector's registration record. Additionally, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections must verify the signature and attempt to cure the ballot in the case of mismatching signatures. If satisfied that the signatures correspond, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections must safely keep the envelope containing the early ballot and completed affidavit unopened and may deliver the early ballot and affidavit for tallying (A.R.S. § 16-550).
A county chairman of each political party may designate a party agent or representative and alternates who may act as challengers for the party for each election precinct and observe the proceedings of the election. For each polling place, one actor may be present and acting, but the challenger is prohibited from entering a voting booth unless they are marking their own ballot. Only the number of party representatives that were mutually agreed upon by each party on the ballot may be in the polling place at one time. If no agreement was reached, the number of representatives must be limited to one person in the polling place at one time for each political party. A challenger or party representative must be a resident of Arizona and to be registered to vote in Arizona (A.R.S. § 16-590).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires a county recorder and other officer in charge of elections to allow representatives of the two largest political parties to observe each stage of the signature verification process for early, provisional and conditional provisional ballots.
2. Allows observers, including those who are observing the signature verification process on a screen or similar monitor in a separate area, to observe from a distance of six feet so that they can reasonably, comfortably and clearly view the contents of any screens or monitors that are used to display information or other materials relating to signature verification.
4. Prohibits observers from noting, transcribing, or otherwise holding or disclosing any voter's personal identifying information, including:
a) the voter's month and day of birth;
b) driver license number;
c) nonoperating identification license number;
d) father's name;
e) mother's maiden name;
f) state and county of birth;
g) the records that contain a voter's signature; and
h) email address.
5. Requires the county recorder and county officer in charge of elections to maintain election board worker and employee documentation in the form of a log at each stage of the signature and affidavit verification process by all election board workers and employees involved in review.
6. Requires the documentation to provide for full accounting and disclosure of the total number of signature verifications performed by each election board worker and employee including:
a) the determination made;
b) the name of the election board worker who conducted the signature verification;
c) the date the review was conducted;
d) the batch numbers;
e) the total number of signature verifications performed;
f) the total number of determinations in each category, accepted, rejected, sent for further review; and
g) the final determination made at subsequent phases or levels of review.
7. Requires the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections to maintain complete logs of all signature verifications processed daily that must be made available daily to any political party and all candidates on request.
8. Classifies, as a class 5 felony, a violation of the requirements relating to signature verification observation and documentation at each stage of the signature verification process.
9. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee
1. Requires the county recorder and county officer in charge of elections to maintain election board worker and employee documentation in the form of a log at each stage of the signature and affidavit verification process, including by each signature verification work station and by all election board workers and employees involved in review.
2. Requires the documentation to provide for full accounting and disclosure of the total number of signature verifications performed by each election board worker and employee including:
a) the determination made;
b) the name of the election board worker who conducted the signature verification;
c) the date the review was conducted;
d) the batch numbers;
e) the total number of signature verifications performed;
f) the total number of determinations in each category, accepted, rejected, sent for further review; and
g) the final determination made at subsequent phases or levels of review.
3. Requires that every election board worker and employee at each phase of level of review be provided with the signature verification log consisting of the total logs for the previous phase or stage of signature verification review.
4. Requires the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections to maintain complete logs of all signature verifications processed daily that must be made available daily to any political party and all candidates on request.
5. Removes the authority of an observer to challenge ballot affidavit envelopes that do not appear to meet signature standards.
6. Removes the requirement that challenged ballot affidavit envelopes must remain unopened.
7. Removes the requirement that the challenged affidavit envelopes must be sent for by a bipartisan challenge review board that is appointed by the two largest political parties.
8. Removes the requirement that the challenge review board must:
a) have access to all control signatures in the voter files; and
b) reach a bipartisan agreement on the challenge before the ballot affidavit envelope may be opened and the ballot tabulated.
9. Removes the requirement that a challenged ballot affidavit envelope that fails the challenge review to be sent as a challenged affidavit envelope to be cured.
10. Removes the outlined requirements relating to a challenged affidavit envelope that is cured.
11. Removes the requirement that the county recorder and county officer in charge of elections must maintain chain of custody documentation that is documented at each stage of the signature and affidavit process by all employees and observers involved in each phase of review.
12. Removes the requirement that the county recorder and county officer in charge of elections must provide for full visibility of outlined items such as signatures, batch numbers and ballot numbers.
13. Removes the requirement that the county recorder and county officer in charge of elections must maintain complete lists of all challenged ballots daily and make the challenge logs available to any political party and candidate on request.
14. Removes the classification of a class 5 felony for a person who violates the requirements relating to signature verification observation and removes the nondiscretionary duty for the county attorney to file the charge.
15. Removes the requirement that a sentence imposed by a court for a violation relating to signature verification observation must comply with the statutory guidelines for sentencing.
Amendments Adopted by Committee of the Whole
1. Specifies that observers may observe from a distance of six feet.
2. Prohibits observers from observing in an election worker's home, if the election worker is conducting signature verification from home.
3. Prohibits observers from noting, transcribing, or otherwise holding or disclosing any voter's personal identifying information.
4. Reinserts the classification of a class 5 felony for a violation of the requirements.
5. Removes the requirement that every election board worker and employee at each phase or level of review be provided with the signature verification log consisting of the total logs or the previous phase or stage of signature verification review.
6. Removes the requirement that the election board worker and employee documentation log include each signature verification work station.
7. Makes technical changes.
Governor's Veto Message
The Governor indicates in her veto message that H.B. 2305 creates unnecessary burdens for election administrators and meaningful privacy concerns for Arizona voters.
House Action Senate Action
MOE 2/1/23 DPA 6-4-0-0 ELEC 3/27/23 DPA 5-3-0
3rd Read 2/21/23 31-29-0 3rd Read 4/11/23 16-13-1
Final Read 5/15/23 31-26-2-0-1
Vetoed by the Governor on 5/19/23
Prepared by Senate Research
May 30, 2023
AN/slp