ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-sixth Legislature

Second Regular Session

House: MOE DP 5-4-0-0

HB 2753: voter registration rolls; auditor general

Sponsor: Representative Gillette, LD 30

Caucus & COW

Overview

Directs the Auditor General to conduct an analysis of the statewide voter registration system and instructs the Auditor General, Secretary of State and County Recorders to issue specified reports.

History

Arizona School Boards Association v. State of Arizona

Laws 2021, Chapter 405 § 4 instructed the election integrity unit of the Attorney General's office to conduct an analysis of the statewide voter registration system to determine whether the Secretary of State's voter registration list maintenance procedures, related to federal only voters, comply with federal law. Additionally, the bill required the County Recorders to submit annual reports to the Legislature containing certain information, such as their procedures for registering federal only voters. In 2022, the Arizona Supreme Court struck down this law for violating the Arizona Constitution's title requirement (Arizona School Boards Association v. State of Arizona)

DPOC and Federal Only Voters

A person must be a United States citizen to register to vote pursuant to federal law and the Arizona Constitution (Ariz. Const. Art. VII § 2, 18 U.S.C. § 611). In 2004, Arizona voters passed Proposition 200 which required, in part, County Recorders to reject voter registration forms that are not accompanied by sufficient evidence of citizenship, or Documentary Proof of Citizenship (DPOC). Proposition 200 also defined the acceptable methods or documents that prove citizenship, such as the presentation of a driver license or nonoperating identification license that was issued after October 1, 1996, or providing a photocopy of one's birth certificate (A.R.S. §§ 16-152, 16-166). 

In 2013, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Arizona must accept and use the federal voter registration form to register voters for federal office. This led to Arizona's bifurcated voter registration system where voters who provide an acceptable form of DPOC are registered as full ballot voters, while registrants who are otherwise eligible to vote but do not provide DPOC are registered as federal only voters (Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, I13-011).

Provisions

1.   ☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal NoteRepeals statute requiring the Secretary of State to provide access to the statewide voter registration system to the Auditor General's election integrity unit for specified purposes. (Sec. 1)

2.   Directs the Secretary of State to provide access to the statewide voter registration database to the Auditor General to determine whether the Secretary of State's voter registration list maintenance procedures comply with federal law concerning federal only voters. (Sec. 2)

3.   Requires the Legislature to appropriate sufficient monies to the Auditor General to conduct the analysis outlined above at least annually. (Sec. 2)

4.   Instructs the Auditor General to submit a report of its findings to specified members of the legislature, the Attorney General and the Secretary of State. (Sec. 2)

5.   Requires, if the analysis discovers ineligible persons registered to vote, the Secretary of State must notify the appropriate County Recorder and the County Recorder must remove the ineligible voters from the voter registration rolls. (Sec. 2)

6.   Directs the County Recorders to submit an annual report to specified members of the Legislature that contains:

a)   a description of their procedures for registering federal only voters;

b)   the number of registered federal only voters in that county;

c) the number of registered voters whose citizenship was subsequently verified and the voter became eligible to vote a full ballot;

d)   a comprehensive description of the obstacles to obtaining registrant's documentary proof of citizenship; and

e)   the number of federal only voters who have been subsequently determined to be ineligible to vote and removed from the voter registration rolls. (Sec. 2)

7.   Instructs the Secretary of State to conduct a separate audit of the statewide voter registration database to ensure the accuracy of voter registration data. (Sec. 2)

8.   Specifies the audit referenced above must be completed before December 31 each year. (Sec. 2)

9.   Requires the Secretary of State to submit a report containing the number of voter registration removals, the locations of the removed registrants and the reasons for removals to specified members of the Legislature and the Attorney General by March 1 each year. (Sec. 2)

10.  Directs the Attorney General and the County Attorneys to investigate and prosecute, as appropriate, any person who is ineligible to register to vote and who knowingly registers to vote. (Sec. 2)

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14.                    HB 2753

15.  Initials JH           Page 0 Caucus & COW

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