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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
REVISED
early ballots; identification; tabulation
Purpose
Requires early ballots to be returned to the county recorder or a voting
location by
7:00 p.m. on the Friday before election day, after which a voter must present
prescribed identification in order for the ballot to be counted and valid.
Background
Any election called pursuant to Arizona law must provide for early voting, including accessible voting by U.S. mail for persons who are blind or have a visual impairment. Any qualified elector may vote by early ballot by making a request for a one-time early ballot as provided by statute or by requesting to be on the Active Early Voter List (AEVL) which allows a voter to vote by early mail ballot until the voter fails to vote an early ballot for two consecutive election cycles (A.R.S. §§ 16-541 and 16-544). Statute requires early voters to secure their ballot in a provided envelope, together with the prescribed affidavit, and either deliver or mail the secured ballot to the appropriate county recorder or deposit the secured ballot at any polling place in the county. In order to be counted and valid, the ballot must be received by the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections no later than 7:00 p.m. on election day, or deposited by the voter or the voter's agent at any polling place in the county no later than 7:00 p.m. on election day (A.R.S. § 16-548). A voter may also choose to vote early in-person at any on-site early voting location up to 27 days before the election and until 7:00 p.m. on the Friday before the election (A.R.S. § 16-542). Before receiving a ballot at any on-site early voting location, a voter must provide identification as prescribed by statute (A.R.S. § 16-579).
Upon receipt of a voted early ballot and completed affidavit, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections must compare the signature on the affidavit with the voter's signature in the voter's registration record. If satisfied that the signatures were made by the same person, the county recorder must place a distinguishing mark on the unopened affidavit envelope to indicate that the signature is sufficient, and the ballot is ready for further processing and tabulation (A.R.S. § 16-550). Beginning in 2026, an early voter may also present their voted ballot along with prescribed forms of voter identification and, upon confirming that the name and address on the voter's identification appear to match the information shown on the voter's registration record, the election official must stamp the signed affidavit with a stamp that reads ID verified, thereby allowing the ballot to bypass additional signature verification (A.R.S. § 16-579).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires a voter who deposits a voted early ballot at a polling place after 7:00 p.m. on the Friday before election day to present identification as prescribed and sign the signature roster or electronic pollbook prior to depositing the ballot.
2. Requires a ballot that is delivered to the county recorder to be received no later than 7:00 p.m. on the Friday before election day in order to be valid and counted.
3. Requires a voted early ballot delivered to an early voting location that provides for on-site tabulation to be tabulated according to prescribed procedures.
4. Stipulates that if a voter's agent delivers a voter's ballot to any polling place, the ballot may only be counted and valid if the voter presents prescribed identification to the county recorder by 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.
5. Modifies instructions that must be provided to early voters to reflect these new deadlines.
6. Specifies that these new voter instructions go into effect on the general effective date, rather than January 1, 2026.
7. Expands in-person early voting to include the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before election day.
8. Stipulates that if the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections is not able to revise precinct registers and other elections materials in a timely manner to indicate which voters have requested an early ballot, which have already voted, and which are on the inactive list, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections may not operate an on-site early voting location after 7:00 p.m. on the Friday before the election.
9. Provides that voted early ballots returned to voting locations may be removed before the polls close if the ballot has been signature verified and if the ballot is removed by two authorized election workers who:
a) are members of differing political parties;
b) have completed a chain of custody log maintained at the voting location that includes the total count of early ballots being transported; and
c) deliver the ballots to a designated receiving site that is an official elections facility and not a third-party vendor.
10. Requires the chain of custody log for early ballots returned at voting locations on election day to be available for inspection by the public, the political parties, committees representing ballot measures and the candidates on the ballot within 48 hours after election day.
11. Requires election officials at voting locations to maintain a tally of the number of ballots that have been deposited in the secured ballot box that is designated for verified early ballots.
12. Requires the statement issued by an election official relating to ballot chain of custody to:
a) affirm that the election official required every voter to present prescribed identification;
b) confirm the name and address on the identification presented by each voter reasonably appeared to be the same name and address on each voter's early mail affidavit; and
c) for any completed early mail affidavit that is deposited in the secured ballot box designated for verified early ballots and that is not stamped ID Verified, process that ballot as prescribed.
13. Requires each polling location that is open for early voting or on election day to include a minimum of at least one secure ballot box for a voter to deposit the voter's completed early ballot and at least one secure ballot box for a voter who presents identification along with their ballot for signature verification and stamping.
14. Requires each type of ballot box to be physically separated and clearly labeled.
15. Requires the election official in charge of the polling location to ensure that a voter who does not present identification is not able to deposit the voter's completed early ballot in the ballot box designated for verified early ballots.
16. Modifies language referring to drop boxes to instead refer to them as secured containers.
17. Makes technical and conforming changes.
18. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Revisions
· Corrects provisions related to in-person early voting.
Prepared by Senate Research
March 10, 2025
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