PHOENIX (CN) — The Arizona Senate will soon consider a bill that would turn the clock back more than 10 years on state election procedures.
The state Senate Committee on Elections voted Monday to advance a bill that would ban counties from using widely available voting centers for all elections, instead returning to precinct-based voting.
Twelve of Arizona’s 15 counties have introduced voting centers since the Legislature authorized them in 2011. The system allows anyone to case their ballot at any of the voting centers in their county, regardless of their neighborhood or precinct. Maricopa County, home to 4.5 million of the state’s 7.3 million citizens, has about 220 voting centers. House Bill 2547 would end that practice, requiring counties to establish instead precinct-based polling places that serve no more than 1,000 registered voters per location. Voters would only be allowed to vote at their assigned polling place.
For Maricopa County, that would require roughly 4,500 polling places and at least 13,500 staffers — at least three per polling place.
Opponents of the bill say the cost of establishing and staffing the additional polling places would overwhelm counties that are already struggling to find election volunteers. Jacob Emnett, representing the County Supervisors Association of Arizona, told the committee Monday that many rural areas don't have the facilities to host polling places for every 1,000 citizens.
State Representative Rachel Jones, a Republican from Tucson and the bill’s sponsor, says precinct-based voting is more convenient because local polling places are closer to the voters and have shorter lines. Jones wasn’t present Monday to explain her bill.
Democrats say voting centers are more reliable, as voters won’t have to worry about accidentally showing up at the wrong voting location. Emnett said the shift to voting centers in 2011 drastically reduced the number of provisional ballots cast because people had showed up to the wrong location.
Sandy Bahr, representing the Arizona chapter of the Sierra Club, told the committee that the shift to precinct-based polling places would eliminate in-person early voting, because polling places are only open on election day.
“Returning to precinct-based voting would be taking a step backward,” she said.
State Senator Ken Bennett of Phoenix was the only Republican to vote against the bill.
“Vote centers have been used in my county and many around the state successfully for more than a decade,” he said. “There have been problems. But the solution to those problems is to fix those problems, not to eliminate voting centers and all early voting.”
Committee chair and Republican Senator Wendy Rogers, from Flagstaff, asked how counties were able to do it before if they can’t do it now.
“If we have more population, that means more volunteers,” she said. The three remaining Republicans joined her in voting yes, making the final vote 4-3. The bill will now head to the Senate floor for a full vote.
Earlier in Monday’s committee meeting, Republicans pushed forward a bill that would give political candidates robust legal recourse against “digital impersonators” using artificial intelligence.
House Bill 2394, sponsored by Scottsdale Republican Alexander Kolodin, would grant Arizona citizens preliminary and permanent declaratory relief for proving that a digital impersonation of them was published without consent and without notice to the audience that the piece of media is fraudulent.
The bill also calls for judges to provide declaratory relief within two "judicial days” of a complaint filing if any of the following criteria are met:
- The person is a candidate for an election occurring in the next 180 days
- The content depicts the person nude or engaging in sex
- The content depicts the person committing a crime
- The person can be expected to suffer personal or financial hardship including loss of job
- The person’s reputation will be irreparably harmed
Kolodin said it’s important to distinguish the circumstances in which injunctive relief should be given so as to make the statute clear to courts.
State Senator Priya Sundareshan, a Democrat from Tucson, asked what the purpose of the bill is, given that declaratory relief wouldn’t eliminate the fraudulent content.
“If something goes viral about Trump or Biden, or you or me for that matter, it’s never coming down,” he replied. “The only value the court could provide is that counter-narrative. And that also happens to be the most respectful of the First Amendment, so it's a win-win.”
Senator Rogers was eager to get through Monday’s agenda, rushing lawmakers along as they asked questions. Sundareshan and state Senator Anna Hernandez, a Democrat from Phoenix, both said they have additional questions for Kolodin, and voted no for now. The rest of the committee voted yes, sending the bill to the Senate.
Follow @JournalistJoeAZ
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
