What Democratic majorities would look like in the Arizona legislature: Elections

(The Center Square) – Last year, Democrats introduced a multi-bill plan that would have significantly expanded voting access for Arizonans and repealed voter integrity safeguards instituted by Republicans in recent years. None made it past a committee hearing. They plan to change that if they are able to win the majority in November.

Only two seats away from having a Democratic majority in Arizona's legislative chambers for the first time in six decades, the Democratic Caucus has established a plan they say would allow them to hit the ground running in 2025 should they take control of the Legislature. This story is part of an ongoing series of what a Democratic trifecta would look like for Arizona taxpayers.

“In the event that we flip, we want to be ready to govern,” Sen. Christine Marsh, D-Phoenix, told The Center Square.

Expanding ballot box access

Sen. Priya Sundareshan, campaign chair for the Democratic Caucus’ efforts to take the majority, said that one of her highest priorities when it comes to voting rights is to make voting as easy as possible, especially for rural and tribal areas in addition to those with disabilities.

One way to do this is through SB 1540, introduced by Sen. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe, that states each county’s board of supervisors must designate at least one polling place on the campus at each state college or university campus in the county. Another bill sponsored by Mendez, SB 1541, says that early voting locations can stay open during the three days immediately prior to election day, allowing more time for people to cast their votes.

Sundareshan wants to see early ballot collection, also known as ballot harvesting, allowed.

“Once your early ballot has been completed, signed and sealed by that voter, we should be allowing neighbors, friends and family members… to be able to help them return their ballot,” Sundareshan said. “This is in particular, something that really is needed specifically for people in rural areas, tribal areas or people with disabilities who can’t get there because of physical inability to access the method of returning the ballot.”

Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli said that as senator for rural LD 30, he finds this “laughable,” emphasizing that his constituents have never complained about this. In fact, he said that he thinks there needs to be increased scrutiny when it comes to the voting process, saying that an audit done in 2022 found that there were multiple ballots turned in after the voter had already died.

Permanent Early Voting List

The permanent early voting list is something that was repealed in 2021, changing it into the active early voting list. Before this change, the PEVL was something individuals could sign up for to receive early voting access.

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed a law not only changing the name to the Active Early Voting List, but also changing the way the list operates. Under current law, if someone registered for early voting access does not vote early for two consecutive cycles, they are removed from the list.

“Not voting in itself is an act of expression,” Sundareshan said, sponsor of SB 1516, which would reinstate the list.

Borrelli said again, that this kind of legislation would only cause further lack of transparency with the voter rolls, not requiring thorough auditing of those on the list. Borrelli claimed that if Democrats were in the majority, mail-in ballots would be the only way to vote.

“We need to have a check and balance,” Borrelli said.

Ranked Choice Voting

Another thing that is included in the Democrats’ voter rights package is the ability for automated voting machines to support ranked choice voting. SB 1539, sponsored by Sen. Mendez, would implement the option of ranked choice voting in Arizona. Ranked choice voting is where voters will rank the candidates instead of voting for their top choice.

People will rank the candidates in order of preference. The person with the majority of votes wins. If there is no majority, the lowest ranked candidate is eliminated and the people who marked that candidate as their top choice will have their vote switched to their second pick, and so on until there is a majority.

“I support ranked choice voting especially with voters who have grown weary of the two-party system,” Sundareshan said, emphasizing that people who don’t align with a specific party, often don’t feel as though they have a solid vote. “I think ranked choice voting allows voters to express their full desires.”

Borrelli said that he thinks it does just the opposite.

“Ranked choice voting would turn us into California,” he said. “People would lose their voice.”

He emphasized the fact that people wouldn’t be solidly casting their vote for their top choice. Their vote may go to their third choice, which doesn’t solidly represent their views.

National Popular Vote Interstate Compact

SB 1545 would have added Arizona to the 17 states currently a part of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. This compact is an agreement between the state and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote, disregarding the Electoral College.

Electing a president by popular vote would give greater electoral importance to high-population centers like California and New York, while minimizing the importance of "swing states" that tend not to vote for Democrats as reliably. Former President Donald Trump won the presidential election in 2016, but lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.

“We actually have this somewhat anti-Democratic system in the presidential election,” Sundareshan said. “Because of the electoral college system, certain states are taken for granted.”

She said that, “as soon as the sufficient number of states that have ratified the national popular vote compact adds up to the number of states whose number of electors had added up to the 270 that is needed to win the electoral college… then each of those states will start awarding their electors to the candidate that has actually won the popular vote for the whole country.”

At this time, all 17 states that are a part of the compact had this legislation signed in by Democratic governors. Borrelli said that this is something he does not see happening in Arizona, even if there is a Democratic majority.

Voter Registration

There are two bills that were put forth by Rep. Laura Terech, D-Phoenix, this last legislative session that the Democratic Caucus is looking to run again: HB 2422 and HB 2423.

HB 2422 allows people to register to vote during the 28 days before an election. At this time, voters have to register 28 days before an election or they cannot vote. Additionally, if a voter can prove that they are a citizen of Arizona, they can even register to vote on election day at the polling place.

“I think we all recognize that having voter registration be an additional hurdle in order to be able to vote leaves a lot of people out of the voting process,” Sundareshan said. “With our voter registration deadline being 28 days before the election, that also leaves a lot of people out.”

However, this has brought concerns among Republicans about how to make sure that a voter who registers the same day is a qualified voter.

“With same-day voting registration there is probably some work that has to be done so that our county recorders are speaking to each other to make sure that somebody who voted earlier in the month in Maricopa County is not showing up a week later in Pima County and trying to vote there,” Sundareshan said.

The other bill, HB 2423, establishes an automatic voter registration. Meaning that when somebody gets a driver’s license in Arizona or an official Arizonan ID, they are automatically registered to vote. If they do not opt out of this 30 days after receiving their ID, it will be assumed that they are a registered voter.

However, the bill does state that if an individual who has been revoked the right to vote unknowingly registers to vote through this process, they are not guilty.

Other Bills

There are multiple other bills included in the Democrats’ package, including SB 1541, previously sponsored by Mendez, that allows county recorders to make changes to early voting locations if necessary. SCR 1033, also sponsored by Mendez, would change the legal voting age to 16. Senate Bill 1516 prohibits the copying or tampering of the hard drive of any electronic voting system and requires all election materials to be stored in a safe location with coded access and video surveillance. HB 2350 requires the county Board of Supervisors to appoint a voting center election board for every voting center, consisting of an inspector, a marshal and as many judges or clerks deemed necessary.

Borrelli said that he is very concerned about Democrats winning the majority and that their election policies would promote control instead of transparency.

“It’s scary for the citizens of Arizona,” Borrelli said. “Like Stalin said, it doesn't matter who votes, it's who counts the votes."