Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ) signed an election integrity bill into law on Tuesday that will limit the number of absentee ballots automatically mailed out by cleaning up voter lists and removing those who have not voted in the past two election cycles.
The Arizona State Senate passed SB 1485 just hours earlier on Tuesday in a straight party-line 16 to 14 vote. The Arizona House of Representatives passed the bill in a straight party-line vote on April 20, 31 to 29.
As Breitbart News reported:
Senate Bill 1485 maintains the language of the current Arizona statute that, “Any voter may request to be included on a list of voters to receive an early ballot for any election for which the county voter registration roll is used to prepare the election register,” but specifies a new requirement that a voter who has previously requested to be added to that list of early ballot recipients shall be removed from that list if, “the voter fails to vote an early ballot in both the primary election and the general election for two consecutive primary and general elections for which there was a federal, statewide, or legislative race on the ballot.”
Heritage Action quickly released a statement praising Governor Ducey for signing the bill. Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action said in the statement:
Today was a triumph for common sense and a victory for election integrity. SB1485 is an important step in the effort to secure Arizona’s elections and improve voter trust. The law will ensure that early voting ballots are not being sent to voters who have chosen not to participate in elections, saving taxpayer money and improving election security. This is a strong law that follows several other excellent laws recently enacted by Gov. Doug Ducey to strengthen Arizona’s voting systems.
Heritage Action thanks Gov. Ducey for signing this legislation and Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita and the legislators who worked tirelessly to ensure that it passed. We also thank the thousands of grassroots conservatives who made their voices heard and supported this bill from day one. This is another victory in the fight to save our elections, and Arizona should be proud. While the Left continues to fight against common-sense reforms, America’s grassroots will not be deterred.
State Rep. Jack Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) told Breitbart News late Tuesday:
With voter confidence at historic lows it is a moral imperative that we do everything in our power to enact sound, common sense policies like Senate Bill 1485 and ensure the integrity of our active early voting list by removing inactive records that are burdening the system and costing taxpayers million.
The first time the bill went to the Arizona State Senate floor for a vote on April 22, it was defeated when one Republican, State Senator Kelly Townsend (R-16) voted no because she wanted other election integrity bills that she said would go into effect in the 2022 election cycle brought to the floor for votes before SB 1485, which she maintained would not into full effect until the 2026 election cycle.
“I demand reform for the 2022 election, and will only vote ‘yes’ on the 2026 election reform bill after the 2022 election reform bills are passed,” Townsend told Breitbart News on April 27.
Townsend told Breitbart News that a subsequent meeting with Senate President Karen Fann to discuss her concerns went well.
On Tuesday, Townsend joined all 15 of her Republican colleagues in the State Senate and voted yes for SB 1485.
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