For being the part of the electorate that politicians can’t count on, infrequent voters continue to get a lot of unwelcome attention from state lawmakers preoccupied with election integrity.
And unnecessary, at that.
The latest is a renewed threat by Senate President Warren Petersen to sue over the manual that guides how elections are carried out in Arizona.
In updating the Elections Procedures Manual, considered the “bible” on administering elections, the Secretary of State’s Office provided guidance on how to apply legislation state lawmakers passed in 2021 affecting voters on the Active Early Voting List — those who automatically receive an early ballot in the mail.
The new law requires county recorders to delete from the list people who haven’t voted in any primary, general or municipal elections in the last two election cycles.
Doing so, the argument goes, updates the roster of active voters, cuts down the handling and costs of sending out unused ballots and boosts public confidence on elections.
The Elections Procedures Manual adopted in late December advises that voters who fail to cast an election ballot in any of the 2024 and 2026 elections would be subject for potential removal, starting in January 2027.
Petersen and other Republican leaders contend that the clock started with the 2022 elections and that the removal process begins in January 2025 — presumably, because the law took effect in the fall of 2021.
It’s a mistaken interpretation, however.
An election cycle is defined by Arizona statute as the two-year cycle beginning in January after the year a statewide general election is held.
That means the passage and signing of Senate Bill 1485 took place halfway through the 2022 election cycle. Thus, the 2024 and 2026 elections will determine who on the Active Early Voting List may be at risk of removal.
The difference in interpretation would be fine, even if it took a lawsuit to resolve, if not for the infused political animus.
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Petersen lumped the elections manual disagreement with issues he had with other Democrats to make unfounded accusations of Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.
“We witnessed a sad trend in 2023 where the Executive branches led by Democrats blatantly disregard the law. 1. Governor violates confirmation laws. 2. SOS rewrites laws with the EPM. 3. AG fails to fully defend our laws leaving making it necessary for us to intervene,” he tweeted.
On the removal of infrequent voters, Fontes did not rewrite laws in the Elections Procedures Manual.
I maintain that both the left and the right overhyped SB 1485.
The left claimed voter suppression, even though the pruning of voter lists based on voting history was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and voters removed from the early voting list are still otherwise able to request an early ballot or vote in-person.
The right exaggerated the law’s impact on fair and accurate elections and voter confidence.
The people most adversely affected, I still believe, are independent voters, who for the most part abstain from the state’s Democratic and Republican primaries and stand to be booted from the Active Early Voting List if they miss two consecutive general elections.
The latest brouhaha serves as a reminder, especially to them, that voting ease and convenience should not be taken for granted.
Reach Abe Kwok at akwok@azcentral.com. On Twitter: @abekwok.
Voters who don't regularly vote really bother the GOP
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09.01.2024
For being the part of the electorate that politicians can’t count on, infrequent voters continue to get a lot of unwelcome attention from state lawmakers preoccupied with election integrity.
And unnecessary, at that.
The latest is a renewed threat by Senate President Warren Petersen to sue over the manual that guides how elections are carried out in Arizona.
In updating the Elections Procedures Manual, considered the “bible” on administering elections, the Secretary of State’s Office provided guidance on how to apply legislation state lawmakers passed in 2021 affecting voters on the Active Early Voting List — those who automatically receive an early ballot in the mail.
The new law requires county recorders to delete from the list people who haven’t voted in any primary, general or municipal elections in the last two election cycles.
Doing so, the........
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