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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
multistate voter registration system; prohibition
Purpose
Allows Arizona to become a member of a specified nongovernmental entity for the purpose of sharing and exchanging information relating to voter registration information. Requires the county recorder to establish a general voter registration list maintenance program.
Background
The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections, by May 1 of each year preceding a state primary and general election or more frequently if the recorder deems necessary, may use the change of address information supplied by the postal service and the information provided by an electronic voter registration information center to identify registrants whose addresses may have changes. If it appears that a registrant has moved to a different address, the county recorder must send the registrant a notice of the change and instructions for the registrant to revise their voter registration information. If the registrant fails to revise the information or return the form no later than 35 days after its mailing, the voter's registration status must be changed from active to inactive. If the registrant has changed residence to a new county, the county recorder must provide information on how the registrant can continue to be eligible to vote (A.R.S. ยง 16-166).
The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) was founded in 2012 and is funded and governed by the states that choose to be a member of ERIC. ERIC uses voter registration and motor vehicle department data submitted by member states, official death data from the Social Security Administration and official change of address data from the U.S. Postal Service to provide member states with reports in the following categories: 1) cross-state movers reports that identify voters who appear to have moved from one member state to another; 2) in-state movers reports that identify voters who appear to have changed address within the same member state; 3) duplicate reports that identify voters with duplicate registrations in the same state; and 4) deceased reports that identify voters who are deceased. Member states must request one of the outlined report types at least once per year and act on the reports in a manner consistent with applicable state and federal law. The Secretary of State (SOS) is responsible for acquiring, sorting and distributing registrant information received from ERIC to the county recorders and for providing guidance on processing data received from ERIC (EPM, Chapter 1 (VIII)(B)(2); ERIC).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Prohibits Arizona from being a member of any multistate voter registration organization or registration list maintenance organization that requires the sharing of information derived from voter registration records, with one outlined exception.
2. Requires the county recorder to suspend a person's registration status, notify the person of the suspension and the reason for the suspension, and allow the person to revise, clarify, confirm or cancel their registration, after the reception of information that a registered voter is ineligible to vote due to the voter:
a) being deceased, adjudicated a convicted felon without having had the person's voting rights restored;
b) not being at least 18 years old;
c) not being a U.S. citizen;
d) being a fictious person; or
e) listing an address that is not the voter's address or legal residence.
3. Requires any voter whose registration is cancelled on the basis of an ineligibility determination to reregister in order to vote.
4. Allows the SOS to become a member of a nongovernmental entity whose sole purpose is to share and exchange information to verify voter registration information.
5. Stipulates that membership of the entity must be composed solely of state government election officials.
6. Requires an agreement to join an entity to include the SOS or their designee as full member with voting rights on the entity's Board of Directors, within 12 months of joining the entity.
7. Allows the SOS to share confidential and exempt information after becoming a member state of an entity if:
a) each member of the entity agrees to maintain the confidentiality of shared information as required by the law of the providing state;
b) the bylaws of the entity require member states and the entity to maintain the confidentiality of information.
8. Allows the SOS to become a member of an entity only if the entity is controlled and operated by participating states.
9. Prohibits the entity from operated or controlled by the federal government, or any entity acting on behalf of the federal government, in order for the SOS to join the entity.
10. Requires the SOS to be able to withdraw from membership with the entity at any time.
11. Stipulates that if the SOS becomes a nongovernmental entity:
a) the Arizona Department of Transportation must provide driver license or nonoperating identification information to the SOS for sharing and exchanging voter registration information with the entity;
b) the SOS must submit a report to the Governor, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives by December 1 of each year detailing the terms of entity membership and information on the total number of voters removed from the system, and reasons for removal, as a result of the membership.
12. Requires the SOS, if it receives information from another state that is confidential or exempt, to provide the information to the county recorder to conduct voter registration list maintenance activities.
13. Requires the county recorder to establish a general voter registration list maintenance program, which must be uniform, nondiscriminatory and in compliance the federal Voting Rights Act, the federal National Voter Registration Act and the federal Help America Vote Act.
14. Requires the county recorder, if they do not use the change of address information supplied by the postal service through its licensees as a method to update voter registration rolls, to mail a physical or digital notice to voters who did not vote during an election cycle or update voter registration information for the purpose of verifying or correcting their registration information.
15. Stipulates that the registrant may be required to provide affirmation or confirmation of their address if the notice is not returned.
16. Requires all list maintenance actions associated with each voter to be entered, tracked, recorded and maintained in the statewide voter registration system.
17. Prohibits a voter's registration from being cancelled later than 90 days before the date of a primary or general election that includes a federal office.
18. Stipulates that the correction of registration records based on information submitted by the voter, or cancellation of a voter's registration at any time on the voter's written request by reason of the voter's death or being adjudicated a felon, is not precluded by this legislation.
19. Requires the county recorder, not later than July 31 and January 31 of each year, to certify to the SOS the address list maintenance activities conducted during the first six months and the second six months, including the number of address confirmation requests sent, the number of voters designated as inactive and the number of registrations cancelled.
20. Requires the SOS, upon determining that a county recorder has not conducted list maintenance activities as outlined, to conduct appropriate list maintenance activities for that county.
21. Stipulates that a person who fails to perform list maintenance activities as outlined commits an act of nonfeasance in public office.
22. Allows the SOS to provide model voter registration list maintenance forms that may be used by the county recorders, which must include an address confirmation request that contains:
a) the voter's name and the address for the voter's legal residence as shown on the voter's registration record; and
b) a request that the voter notify the county recorder if either the voter's name or address of legal residence is incorrect.
23. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
House Action
FMAE 2/12/25 DPA 4-3-0-0
3rd Read 3/3/25 31-27-2
Prepared by Senate Research
March 24, 2025
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