Ducey signs off on voter purge law
Measure makes it easier for Arizona to remove names from automatic early ballot list
PHOENIX, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Gov. Doug Ducey, (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday signed a bill that will make it easier to purge infrequent voters from the list of those who automatically receive a ballot ahead of every election.
Ducey signed the measure just hours after it cleared the state Senate. It requires a voter remain active in order to remain on the permanent early ballot list. If a voter sits out for more than four-years, his or her name will be purged from the list.
In a statement the governor writes:
“Arizona is a national leader when it comes to election integrity and access to the ballot box, and Senate Bill 1485 continues that legacy. In 1992, our state began offering the ability for Arizonans to vote an absentee ballot. Since then, Arizona has continuously improved and refined our election laws — including intuitively renaming ‘absentee’ voting to ‘early’ voting — and constantly seeking to strengthen the security and integrity of our elections."
-Gov. Doug Ducey, (R-Ariz.)
Gov. Doug Ducey's full video statement on the signing of SB 1485:
Democrats vehemently opposed the bill. They say the measure would suppress ballots from people of color. Senate Democrats released this statement following the measure's passage:
“Today we saw Arizona Republicans once again take a hammer to the institution of Democracy by passing a bill that will purge over 120,000 eligible Arizona voters from the Permanent Early Voting List. SB1485 would take Arizona voters off the Permanent Early Voter List and stop automatically mailing them their early ballots if they do not vote by mail in only two consecutive election cycles. The bill would put an expiration date on “permanent” early voting, as well as remove the word “permanent” from statute, further threatening the early ballots of millions of Arizona voters. The true intent of this bill is undeniable and that is to suppress the votes of low-income, Black, Latino, and Native American voters.
The priorities of this legislature are wrong and misguided and SB1485 is one of its most shameful examples. We have one of the country's best and robust vote by mail systems and yet the legislature is actively creating unnecessary hurdles for people to vote. These voter suppression bills are part of a broader, coordinated attack on voting rights and democratic norms. The Arizona GOP are so threatened by progress and so convinced that they cannot win fairly, that they are actively attacking our Democracy at all levels. Additionally, over 17,000 Arizonans have died from COVID and thousands more have been impacted by COVID's long-term effects. Instead of finding solutions to help uplift all Arizonans, this Republican controlled legislature has focused on making it harder for Arizonans to vote. It's shameful.”
SB 1485 is the twelfth piece of voting legislation Ducey has signed into law this year. All the measures "protect election integrity in Arizona" according to the Governor's Office. Those bills include:
- Signing of SB 1002 - early voting envelopes; party affiliation (Ugenti-Rita)
- Signing of SB 1003 - early voting; signature required; notice (Ugenti-Rita)
- Signing of SB 1492 - election law amendments (Shope)
- Signing of SB 1497 - ballot measures; proposition 105; disclosure (Ugenti-Rita)
- Signing of SB 1530 - early ballots; instructions; undeliverable (Mesnard)
- Signing of HB 2054 - voter registration database; death records (Kaiser)
- Signing of HB 2307 - voting equipment; overvote notice (Kavanagh)
- Signing of HB 2308 - recall petitions and elections; revisions (Kavanagh)
- Signing of HB 2359 - election equipment; access; locks (Kavanagh)
- Signing of HB 2364 - election pamphlet submittals; identification required (Kavanagh)
- Signing of HB 2569 - elections; private funding; prohibition (Hoffman)
These laws are part of a wave of proposals reducing voter access in Republican-controlled states across the country in response to President Donald Trump's 2020 defeat. New legislation continues to be proposed, and passed, in spite of repeated reviews showing no evidence of issues with election results in Arizona, or anywhere else.
