Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoes GOP bill designed to produce faster election results

PHOENIX – As expected, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday vetoed a Republican-backed bill designed to speed up the state’s ballot counting process and produce faster election results.

The bill would have, among other things, changed the deadline for dropping off completed early ballots in person to 7 p.m. the Friday before Election Day instead of 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Early ballots dropped off on Election Day can take up to a week or more to process because they need to go through signature verification before tabulation. As a result, it can take days for enough ballots to be counted to determine winners in close races.

The vetoed legislation is modeled, in part, after Florida’s voting system, which is known for producing some of the nation’s most complete election results soon after the polls close.

Why did Gov. Katie Hobbs veto election bill?

Hobbs previously signaled a veto was coming, citing the impact it would have on voting access.

“While I, too, want faster election results, the solution should not needlessly restrict Arizona citizens’ freedom to vote,” she said in her veto letter.

The Democratic governor also accused Republicans of refusing to engage in bipartisan negotiations.

“Unfortunately, any potential compromise was rejected, leading me to believe the focus of this legislation is disenfranchising eligible voters, not delivering faster election results for Arizonans,” she wrote.

Republicans weigh options after bill vetoed

The election reform legislation, SB1011/HB2703, was the first bill sent to Hobbs’ desk this session after passing along party lines in both chambers last week.

“I promised the people of Arizona that this Legislature would be committed to making commonsense and proven changes to our election processes, and my colleagues and I remain resolved to achieve that goal,” Senate President Warren Petersen said in a press release.

One possiblity would be to let voters decide by referring the issue to the ballot through a concurrent resolution, which doesn’t require the governor’s signature.

In fact, a proposal to do just that passed the House on Monday.

“Status quo for our state’s elections is not an option,” Petersen said. “Arizona should never again be the laughingstock of the nation for its woefully slow election reporting. Our caucus will be discussing a path forward on this issue in the days and weeks ahead.”

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