The Arizona State Legislature is reviewing several election-related bills aimed at tightening voter registration rules, increasing transparency in election mailings, and preventing potential voter fraud.
Sponsored by Rep. John Gillette (LD-30), the three bills—HB 2004, HB 2006, and HB 2007—focus on restricting voter registration mailings, requiring disclosures on election-related mailings, banning payment incentives for voter registration, and limiting third-party election mailers. Supporters argue these measures will protect election integrity.
This bill prohibits Arizona county recorders from sending voter registration cards to mailing addresses outside the state, with exceptions for military personnel and overseas voters covered under federal law as well as Arizona residents without in-state postal service access.
Supporters argue this bill prevents potential voter fraud by ensuring only Arizona residents receive registration materials at valid in-state addresses. HB 2004 passed the House Floor (33-27-1) and is now under Senate consideration.
HB 2006: Requiring Disclosures on Election Mailings
Under this bill, any nongovernmental entity that mails or delivers election-related documents—such as voter registration applications or early ballot requests—must include the phrase “not from a government agency” on the envelope. The requirement applies to third-party voter registration groups, political organizations, and nonprofit advocacy groups.
Proponents argue this measure prevents voter confusion and ensures recipients can differentiate between official government communications and third-party outreach. HB 2006 passed the House Floor (37-19-4) and is advancing to the Senate.
HB 2007: Prohibiting Payment for Voter Registration Quotas
This bill bans individuals or organizations from paying or receiving compensation based on the number of voter registration forms collected, completed, or submitted.
Currently, government agencies, political parties, and private organizations conducting voter registration drives receive state and federal voter registration forms at no cost. However, this bill would ensure that voter registration efforts are not incentivized by financial compensation, which supporters say prevents fraudulent or rushed registrations. HB 2007 passed the House Floor (34-23-3) and is now under Senate review.
The Arizona Senate is expected to debate these bills in the coming weeks. As lawmakers debate these measures, Arizona voters will be watching closely to see how the changes may impact future elections.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
On Monday, the Arizona State Senate passed two key pieces of legislation aimed at improving the security and integrity of the state’s election system. These bills, which will now move to the House of Representatives for further consideration, seek to bolster Arizona’s efforts to prevent election fraud and increase voter confidence in the electoral process.
The two bills, SB 1123 and SB 1063, were sponsored by State Senator Mark Finchem, a vocal advocate for election reform. SB 1123 proposes a series of enhanced security measures to protect ballots from fraud and tampering, while SB 1063 focuses on expanding civic participation in the election process.
SB 1123 is a comprehensive measure that aims to implement a variety of advanced security features on Arizona’s ballots. Under the proposed legislation, election officials would be required to use at least three fraud countermeasures including watermarked security paper, secure holographic foil, and forensic fraud detection security inks, among other possible countermeasures.
According to Senator Finchem, these measures are designed to ensure that every ballot is both secure and verifiable. “Arizonans deserve fair and accurate elections, free from fraud and illegal influence,” said Finchem. “This bill was carefully crafted and is a commonsense solution that will increase voter confidence. By adding these countermeasures to our ballots, we can ensure that every vote is accurately counted, verified, and speaks to citizens and the right to exercise their franchise.”
The proposed security features are intended to make it more difficult for bad actors to manipulate or counterfeit ballots. Proponents of the bill argue that these enhancements are essential for safeguarding Arizona’s elections.
SB 1063, also sponsored by Finchem, offers a unique solution to encourage greater civic engagement. This bill allows jury commissioners to offer qualified jurors, who receive a jury summons between 120 and 90 days before a general election, the option to serve as temporary election workers instead of fulfilling their jury duty obligations.
The idea behind this measure is to increase the number of available election workers during election season, which can often be a logistical challenge. By providing citizens with the choice to participate in either jury duty or election work, the bill aims to create greater oversight during elections and reduce the risk of fraudulent activity.
“Extending civic duty services to allow citizens the choice to participate in jury duty or elections will ensure greater oversight in an effort to deter the schemes pulled by fraudsters,” said Senator Finchem. “Senate Republicans will continue to work in good-faith to provide Arizonans with much-needed reforms to uphold the integrity of our election process.”
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A contentious legal battle over Arizona’s voter identification laws has once again found itself under the scrutiny of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen has vowed to bring the case back before the U.S. Supreme Court after the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling that undermines a decision previously made by the nation’s highest court.
The case centers on a 2022 law passed by the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature, which requires proof of citizenship for individuals to vote in state and federal elections. This law is designed to prevent non-citizens from casting ballots and aims at ensuring the integrity of Arizona’s elections after a long-standing debate over voter fraud and concerns about election security. The law, however, has faced resistance from various groups, including activists arguing that such requirements disproportionately disenfranchise certain voter groups.
Petersen, who has been a staunch advocate for the law, expressed frustration after the Ninth Circuit panel’s decision last week. “It’s a new year, but we have the same, old Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, playing familiar games of judicial activism,” said Petersen in response to the ruling. “This radicalism undermines confidence in our judicial system, and it has negative consequences for the fabric of our Republic. Legislative Republicans are already working to return to the Supreme Court in defense of Arizona election integrity, and we intend to win.”
The issue came to a head last August when a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit vacated an emergency stay decision that had been issued by another Ninth Circuit panel. This earlier ruling allowed Arizona to enforce the proof of citizenship requirement when voters registered for federal elections, such as those for the U.S. Presidency and Congress.
The Ninth Circuit’s latest decision represents an ongoing point of contention, as it effectively permits voters to register using the state form without submitting proof of citizenship. This ruling creates a situation where voters can register without confirming their citizenship status, a move that proponents of the Arizona law argue goes against state sovereignty and undermines federal election integrity.
After the Ninth Circuit’s initial ruling, Petersen took the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking an emergency stay to ensure Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirement was upheld. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Arizona, affirming that the state had the right to reject registration forms that did not provide evidence of citizenship. This ruling marked a significant victory for Arizona Republicans who had been pushing for stronger election integrity laws.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
One Arizona lawmaker is making a push for greater state sovereignty.
Last week, State Representative Lisa Fink, a Republican, wrote an op-ed, entitled, “Make Arizona Sovereign Again.” In this piece, the first-term legislator makes the case for three of her bills that “push back against federal overreach and empower our citizens to take back control of their lives by restoring transparency in our elections, unleashing economic prosperity with our natural resources, and safeguarding the health and safety of Arizonans, putting the people and economy of our state first.”
The first bill Fink highlights is HB 2059, which would “ensure Arizona and employees of its state agencies are no longer forced to uphold various federal regulations on critical natural resource industries, like mining, coal, oil, and gas, that violate the clear boundaries of the U.S. Constitution. Representative Fink states that Arizona “must have the freedom to prioritize its own economic prosperity and environmental stewardship without being bound by harmful federal mandates.”
The second bill the state lawmaker presents is HB 2060, which would “strictly adher[e] to established laws on voter registration, citizenship, residency, and proof of identification. Fink opined that “securing our polls, free from outside interference, is of the utmost importance to preserving trust in our processes.”
The final bill that Representative Fink addressed was HB 2056, which would “take a proactive stance against federal efforts to alter the environment, protecting our state’s autonomy.” The Republican legislator states that she introduced this legislation because of the “growing issue of environmental manipulation, specifically addressing concerns over weather modification techniques like geoengineering and solar radiation management perpetrated by the federal government and multinational organizations. Fink added that “Arizona’s environment and natural resources belong to the people of this state – not federal agencies and certainly not the global elite.”
As she ended her piece, Representative Fink wrote, “The message is clear: Arizona will not tolerate unconstitutional federal overreach. From energy independence and mineral dominance to election integrity to defending our environment, this series of bills reasserts Arizona’s Tenth Amendment rights over the federal government and puts Arizona first. This is about reclaiming the freedom that is rightfully ours.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona’s former secretary of state, state senator, and 2020 election auditor, Ken Bennett, will serve as chair of AUDIT USA.
AUDIT USA — Americans United for Democracy, Integrity, and Transparency in Elections — is a nonprofit dedicated to public oversight of elections that best deters election fraud. Bennett, a Republican, will lead AUDIT USA, though it maintains a bipartisan cohort and its co-founder is a self-described “progressive Democrat.”
AUDIT USA’s current efforts focus on establishing Auditable Ballot Examination (ABE), an audit system independent of the Election Management System enabling officials and voters to verify election outcomes through access to anonymized digital ballot images. ABE reportedly boasts the capability of sorting by race, precinct, overvotes, undervotes, and write-in candidates promptly.
AUDIT USA offers a version of ABE that operates as a beta to showcase its capabilities.
AUDIT USA worked on ABE-prompted bipartisan legislation in 2023 that gained the support of Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.
“In an era where democracy faces unprecedented challenges, every vote must be verifiable, and every citizen must have access to clear, trustworthy election data,” stated Bennett in a press release.
Fontes, in a statement, said he welcomed the proof of clean elections that the proposed audit system would afford.
“[This tool would] get rid of the election fraud nonsense,” said Fontes. “Get rid of the lies and the conspiracy theories once and for all.”
Other goals of AUDIT USA include email-enabled excel spreadsheets hyperlinked to securely stored, cloud-based ballot images; optimizing platforms to become more user friendly; and improving verification systems to increase the accuracy and speed of cross-check examinations of election results.
Bennett served as the Arizona Senate’s liaison during the audit of Maricopa County’s 2020 election results conducted by private data firm Cyber Ninjas. Around that stint in elections oversight, Bennett served in the State Senate from 1999 to 2007 and then 2023 to 2025.
Bennett capitalized on that latter return to the Arizona legislature to advocate for election integrity improvements. He was the lawmaker who led on the ABE-inspired legislation in 2023, and in 2024 he attempted to realize the proposal again through a $2 million designation from the budget to pay for the creation of the analytical tool.
In that 2023 proposal, SB1324, Bennett’s pitch to lawmakers cited the close loss endured by now-Congressman Abe Hamadeh in the attorney general’s race. Bennett argued that voters would have more confidence if they could see for themselves that the 280-vote lead by Mayes was truly owing to thousands of voters declining to vote in that race.
Governor Katie Hobbs ultimately vetoed the bill after it was substituted for HB2560 with its similar provisions. Hobbs claimed the bill would create problems with anonymity and both misinformation and disinformation.
AUDIT USA co-founder John Brakey served under Bennett as deputy liaison for the 2021 election audit. Brakey currently serves as the organization director. Other members: secretary and treasurer Arlene Leaf, and board members Bill Risner, Bennie Smith, Lynn Bernstein, and Susan Pynchon.
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