Arizona Voters Will Not Be Silenced Despite New Barriers

PHOENIX — All Voting is Local Arizona State Director Alex Gulotta issued the following statement in response to Gov. Doug Ducey signing HB 2243, a bill that requires election officials to conduct monthly voter roll purges, into law:

“To say we are disappointed in Gov. Doug Ducey is an understatement. With the recent signing of HB 2243 and many other anti-voter bills this year, Arizona voters will face more unnecessary hurdles when voting and must become more vigilant to ensure that their vote is counted. However, despite these unjust burdens, Arizona voters will not be silenced. Our rights and the future of our democracy rests in the hands of voters who will continue to make their voices heard, no matter what barriers lawmakers place in front of them.”

“We, as voters and democracy advocates, must push forward and stay engaged in all aspects of the election administration process – from registration to ballot tabulation – and call on our election officials to be responsive to the communities they serve. We will continue to support voters and challenge policies that infringe on voting rights and access to the ballot.”

Background:

During the 2022 session, the Arizona Legislature passed HB 2492, HB 2243, and a number of other anti-voter, anti-democracy measures. Each of the anti-voter bills was put forth with the intention to further inconvenience voters, remove voters from the rolls, or require additional steps for eligible citizens to register to vote.

HB 2492 requires all currently registered voters to provide extensive and unnecessary documentation to prove citizenship, even if registered before the citizenship requirement was imposed in 2005. The bill will undoubtedly result in expensive litigation, as the Senate Rule committee informed the bill sponsors that it would be illegal to implement because it violates the 14th Amendment. It also imposes a new, documented-proof-of-residence requirement that will make community-based voter registration for people with no Arizona ID (students, snowbirds, and many low-income residents) difficult or completely impractical.
House Bill 2243 seeks to remove eligible voters from voting rolls. Implementing H.B 2243 will replace the current process, which protects voters from being improperly removed, with a system that would allow removal based on unreliable or incomplete information and no final chance for voters to verify their information.

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All Voting is Local, a nonpartisan organization, exists to expose and dismantle threats to voter freedom in order to make voting safe, fair, and accessible, to build a democracy for us all. For more information about All Voting is Local, visit https://allvotingislocal.org and follow us on Twitter @votingislocal.