HB2580 - 562R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 16-407, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-407. Election officers; qualifications; certificates; certification programs; plan; exemption; election training fund

A. Except as provided in subsection E of this section, a person may not perform the duties or exercise the authority of an election officer or of the clerk of the board of supervisors or the county recorder in performance of election duties in or on behalf of any county unless the person is the holder of an election officer's certificate issued by the secretary of state before January 1 of each general election year. The secretary of state may not issue an election officer's certificate after June 1 in any general election year. An election officer's certificate expires on December 31 in the year after the general election.

B. The secretary of state shall provide for the examination of applicants for election officer certificates. The secretary of state may not issue a certificate to a person who has not demonstrated to the satisfaction of the secretary of state that the person is competent to perform the work of an election officer or of the clerk of the board of supervisors or the county recorder in the performance of election duties.

C. The secretary of state shall provide for election officer certification programs of which successful completion by a person attests to the attendance at, participation in and completion of a course of instruction in the technical, legal and administrative aspects of conducting elections within this state.

D. On or before December 31 of each year of a general election, the secretary of state shall submit an election officer education, training and certification plan to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives. The plan shall outline the achievements and problems of the previous two year period and specify the expected education, training and certification activities of the coming two year period.

E. Subsection A of this section does not apply to elected officials, clerical and secretarial personnel, counting center personnel and precinct election board members and election officials in cities or towns.

F. For city and town employees who work on elections, the city or town may train its own employees if the city or town training program is approved by the secretary of state or, if the city or town chooses to enroll the city or town employees in the certification program prescribed by this section, the city or town shall reimburse the secretary of state for the costs of conducting the training. An election training fund is established consisting of monies received pursuant to this subsection. The secretary of state shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated and the secretary of state shall use monies in the fund to pay the costs of training officials from cities and towns pursuant to this subsection. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 16-550, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-550. Receipt of voter's ballot; cure period; tracking system

A. Except for early ballots tabulated as prescribed in section 16-579.02 or, beginning in 2026, received at a voting location after a voter's identification is confirmed as prescribed by section 16-579, subsection A, paragraph 4, on receipt of the envelope containing the early ballot and the mail ballot affidavit, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall compare the signature on the envelope with the signature of the elector on the elector's registration record as prescribed by section sections 16-550.01 and 16-553. If the signature is inconsistent with the elector's signature on the elector's registration record, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall make reasonable efforts to contact the voter, advise the voter of the inconsistent signature and allow the voter to correct or the county to confirm the inconsistent signature. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall allow signatures to be corrected not later than the fifth business day after a primary, general or special election that includes a federal office or the third business day after any other election. If the election is a primary, general or special election that includes a federal office, in addition to the office's regular business hours, the county recorder's and city or town clerks' offices shall be open during regular business hours to allow for curing signatures during the Friday and weekend before and the Friday and weekend after the election. If the signature is missing, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall make reasonable efforts to contact the elector, advise the elector of the missing signature and allow the elector to add the elector's signature not later than 7:00 p.m. on election day. If satisfied that the signatures correspond, the recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall hold the envelope containing the early ballot and the completed mail affidavit unopened in accordance with the rules of the secretary of state. Signatures that cannot be verified pursuant to section 16-550.01 or cured pursuant to this section shall be rejected. Beginning with the first missing or mismatched signature that is identified after the period of early voting begins through the Monday immediately preceding the election, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall submit daily to the political parties that are qualified for continued representation on the state ballot an updated list of all voters whose signatures are missing or inconsistent with the voter's signature on the voter's registration record. Beginning on the Wednesday immediately following the election through the end of the signature cure period after a primary, general or special election that includes a federal office, or the third business day after the election for any other election, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall submit daily to the political parties that are qualified for continued representation on the state ballot an updated list of all voters whose signatures are inconsistent with the voter's signature on the voter's registration record and all voters who voted with a conditional provisional ballot. This list of voters whose signatures require curing shall include for those voters all voter information that is provided to the political parties that are qualified for continued representation on the state ballot as prescribed by section 16-168.

B. The recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall thereafter safely keep the mail ballot affidavits and early ballots in the recorder's or other officer's office and may deliver them for tallying pursuant to section 16-551.

C. Processing and tabulation of individual ballots may begin immediately after the envelope and completed mail ballot affidavit are processed pursuant to this section and delivered to the early election board and shall continue without delay until completed. Until election day, the early election board and the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall:

1. Not access an aggregated complete results file of early voting and vote by mail ballots that were processed and tabulated by the end of the early voting period.

2. Not produce for internal or external use an aggregated results report or associated files of complete results.

3. Only produce a partial results report or associated files if it is part of the internal preparation for the hand count pursuant to section 16-602 or for the logic and accuracy testing required pursuant to section 16-449.

4. Not publicly release complete or partial results, whether for internal or external use, until all precincts have reported or one hour after the closing of the polls on election day, whichever is earlier.

D. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall post on its website within forty-eight hours after all ballot tabulation is complete all system log files and other similar files from the election management system that verify compliance with subsection C of this section.

E. The county recorder shall send a list of all voters who were issued early ballots to the election board of the precinct in which the voter is registered.

F. For a county that uses early ballots, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall provide an early ballot tracking system that indicates whether the voter's early ballot has been received and whether the early ballot has been verified and sent to be tabulated or rejected. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall provide voters with access to the early ballot tracking system on the county's website.

G. This section does not apply to:

1. A special taxing district that is authorized pursuant to section 16-191 to conduct its own elections.

2. A special district mail ballot election that is conducted pursuant to article 8.1 of this chapter. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Title 16, chapter 4, article 8, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 16-553, to read:

START_STATUTE16-553. Signature verification evaluators; political parties; boards

A. Notwithstanding any other law, not less than ninety days before the election, the county chairpersons of the two largest political parties may designate for the officer in charge of elections qualified electors from the county to serve as signature verification evaluators for early election boards. If the designated persons are qualified electors of the county, the officer in charge of elections shall appoint the designated persons as signature verification evaluators.

B. The officer in charge of elections may establish training requirements for signature verification evaluators designated by political parties as prescribed by subsection a of this section and may require the designees to work a specific number of hours and days. The officer in charge of elections shall provide for reasonable accommodation to maximize opportunities for participation for persons with disabilities, caregiving commitments and work commitments.

C. The officer in charge of elections is not required to compensate the persons designated pursuant to this section.

D. Not more than one-half of the total number of persons designated pursuant to this section may be designated by a single political party. END_STATUTE

(ENACTED WITHOUT THE EMERGENCY)

Sec. 4. Emergency

This act is an emergency measure that is necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative immediately as provided by law.