Capitol roundup: Republicans target voting centers
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Republican lawmakers want the public to decide whether to prohibit in-person early voting and the use of voting centers where anyone can cast a ballot, regardless of location.
Why it matters: Most Arizona counties, including Maricopa and Pima, with roughly 75% of the state's population, use voting centers.
- Under precinct-based systems, ballots aren't counted if cast at the wrong polling place.
State of play: On a party-line vote with all Democrats in opposition, House Republicans approved a proposed ballot referral Monday that would send the issue to November's ballot.
- The proposal would require counties to use precinct-based polling places where voters could only cast ballots where they're registered. Precincts would be limited to 2,500 voters.
- Counties would also be barred from offering in-person early voting.
- It wouldn't change mail-in voting.
What they're saying: Rep. Rachel Keshel (R-Tucson), who sponsored the measure, said the change would help restore trust in Arizona elections, which she called a "laughingstock."
- She pointed to problems in the 2022 election, when many voters in Maricopa County waited for hours because tabulation machines couldn't process ballots at many voting centers.
- Rep. Teresa Martinez (R-Casa Grande) noted that Pinal County still uses precinct voting, "And we've had no problems at all."
The other side: "Arizonans want access, flexibility and elections that work. This moves the state in the opposite direction," said Rep. Brian Garcia (D-Tempe).
- Rep. Quantá Crews (D-Phoenix) recalled once having to rush from downtown Phoenix to Avondale in heavy traffic to vote to be in her precinct, saying voters should have options.
Zoom in: Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill with a similar provision last year.
- But because Keshel's proposal is a ballot referral, it only needs legislative approval.
In other legislative news this week:
📸 The Senate amended a proposed ballot measure to ban photo radar so that such systems would still be permitted, but only with voter approval.
📱 Fines for texting while driving would jump to $400 — they're currently $150-$250 — on second offenses under a bill passed by the House.
🚗 The House approved a bill allowing people to install speed-limiting devices on their cars instead of losing their driver's licenses for violations like excessive speeding and reckless driving.
🏟️ Operating a drone within 1 mile of a ticketed event would be illegal under a bill that received near-unanimous Senate approval.
💻 "Revenge porn" depicting AI-generated or other synthetic images of real people would be illegal under House-approved legislation. The bill would also require companies to keep records showing consent for any person appearing in pornographic images.
🏫 The House Appropriations Committee OK'd a proposed ballot measure requiring school districts to spend at least 60% of their funding on instructional expenses like teacher salaries, over the objections of Democrats and the Arizona Education Association (AEA).
🪧 Another education-related ballot measure, which received preliminary approval from House Republicans, would inhibit the AEA's ability to organize at schools.
⚧️ Senate Republicans sought to sidestep Hobbs' veto stamp and go straight to the voters with a proposal that would require public schools to restrict the use of facilities like restrooms and changing rooms based on biological sex, and would bar school employees from addressing transgender students under age 18 by their preferred pronouns and names without parental consent.