PHOENIX — Arizonans going to the polls this year could be faced with three vastly different and often-conflicting approaches for the conduct of future elections.
An initiative campaign to broaden access to the ballot reported Tuesday it now is in line to have more than $1 million to gather the 237,645 signatures needed to put the question to voters.
That includes $500,000 already donated by Living United for Change in Arizona, the group that convinced voters, twice, to hike the state’s minimum wage.
Laura Dent, spokeswoman for the coalition of groups coming up with the cash, known as Activate 48, says the campaign already has more than 60,000 signatures collected since launching in early February.
Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections has until July 7 to gather the rest on its proposal to do everything from automatic voter registration when people get a driver’s license to overturning some of the restrictions on early voting previously approved by the Republican-controlled measure.
Only thing is, it’s already clear it would not be the only measure on the November ballot. Republican lawmakers already have placed another vastly different one there which actually would impose new voter ID requirements.
That measure began as an initiative by the business-oriented Free Enterprise Club. But the action by the Republican-controlled legislature saves it the effort — and the cost — of getting signatures by agreeing themselves to put it on the ballot.
And a third group that wants to curb early voting is hoping for the same favorable treatment of being able to bypass the signature requirements for an initiative.
Lee Miller, one of the Republican organizers of what is dubbed Easier to Vote, Harder to Cheat, said he has been unable to hire the necessary paid circulators to get people to sign petitions to qualify the measure for the 2022 ballot. He blames Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections, claiming that the deal they have with companies they hired to circulate their petitions forbids them from also taking on petitions for the conflicting measure.
Joel Edman, who heads that effort, acknowledged his group does not want its circulators also advancing an effort that works contrary to what it is trying to accomplish.
So now Miller is hoping GOP lawmakers do for him and his allies what they did for the Free Enterprise Club: put the issue on the November ballot without the need to gather signatures showing public support.
Theoretically speaking, all three could be approved in November. And if there are conflicting provisions, the measure that gets more votes would become law.
But what ultimately will be at play is whether Arizonans believe that the existing voting laws, including new restrictions that Republicans are enacting this year, are too lax or too restrictive.
The most comprehensive of these proposals is the initiative being pushed by Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections.
It would restore the “permanent early voting list” lawmakers eliminated in 2021, ensuring people who want can continue to get early ballots even if they do not use them for several years.
It also would require counting early ballots postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day — existing law says they have to be received by that deadline — and add to the kinds of documents that those going to the polls could present to show their identification.
Then there’s the provision that says people are signed up to vote when they get a driver’s license unless they specifically opt out. Also gone would be the requirement to be registered at least 29 days prior to the election in order to vote.
It would repeal the 2016 law that makes it a crime for individuals to take someone else’s early ballots to a polling place.
And of particular note, it would spell out that a signature on an early ballot envelope is sufficient to have the votes inside of it counted.
That directly conflicts with what’s been dubbed the Arizona for Voter ID Act, the one GOP lawmakers agreed to put on the ballot for the Free Enterprise Club.
It seeks to spell out that those who use early ballots provide information beyond their signature on the early ballot envelopes.
That includes an affidavit with the voter’s date of birth and the number from one of several acceptable forms of identification. These include a driver’s license, a state-issued non-operating license, the last four digits of the person’s Social Security number, or a unique number issued by the secretary of state to those who lack the other types of ID.
But it would leave it up to counties to decide whether that information would have to be provided on a separate document that voters would need to remember to put into the envelope.
A similar requirement enacted in Texas reportedly resulted in thousands of votes not being counted.
The Arizona for Voter ID Act also would affect those who go to the polls on election day.
It would bar anyone from voting who does not provide an acceptable photo ID. Gone would be an alternate option of bringing in two different documents without a photo that contain the person’s name and address, like a utility bill, vehicle registration certificate or property tax statement.
The Easier to Vote, Harder to Cheat proposal lobbyist Miller and other Republicans hope to get lawmakers to put on the ballot takes a somewhat different approach to early ballots.
It would continue to permit voters to provide only their signature on the envelopes. But it would prohibit people from dropping off such an early ballot at a voting center after 7 p.m. on the Friday before election day.
There still would be an option for those who want to bring their early ballots to a polling place on Election Day. But they could not simply drop it off, as is the case now, but instead would be required to stand in line and provide the same kind of voter ID as those who were standing in line to vote that day.
It also seeks to require that ballots be scanned and the images placed online for public viewing as well as mandates county officials to set up a system so those who cast early ballots can be sure their votes were counted.
And it says anyone who needs to “cure” a ballot where election officials question whether the signature matches would have only through 7 p.m. on Election Day. Current law gives them up to five day to resolve the issue, which sometimes can be done through a phone call, and ensure their vote is counted.
Miller said there may be tweaks between the original proposal and what his group asks GOP lawmakers to put on the ballot. And some of it, he said, is based on what appears popular.
“We are in the field right now talking to voters to get a better understanding on what they’re looking for in order to make Arizona’s election safe and secure,” he said.
The initiative proposal by Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections actually deals with more than the voting process.
If approved, it would provide more cash for candidates who choose to run with public funds.
Conversely, it would scale back the limits on donations by private individuals and political action committees who now can give up to $6,250 to candidates every election cycle to no more than $2,500 to those running for statewide office and $1,000 for legislative, city, town or county offices.
It also would eliminate the exemption that now exists for travel, lodging, food and drinks from laws that ban gifts to lawmakers from lobbyists.
And there is language designed to tighten up requirements that presidential electors actually cast their votes for the candidate who won the popular vote.
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