GOP lawmaker introduces bill to eliminate early voting list in Arizona following Democrats' wins

Arizona legislators proposed on Tuesday to abolish the permanent early voting list — which 3.2 million of the state’s voters use to get their ballots in the mail for each election — and to require anyone voting by mail get their ballot notarized.

Rep. Kevin Payne, a Republican from Peoria sponsoring both bills, said he wants changes to state election laws this year and argued the latter proposal in particular is meant to improve election security.

Critics countered the legislation is meant to deter voters after high turnout last year put Democrats over the top to win the presidential race in Arizona as well as a second U.S. Senate seat.

The bills are just the latest that lawmakers have introduced to change how Arizonans vote and how their votes are counted as some Republican leaders continue to dispute the state's election results and as a changing Southwest upends the state's politics.

The permanent early voting list has proved increasingly popular since its creation with bipartisan support in 2007, after lobbying by county recorders who were deluged with requests from voters to receive ballots in the mail before each election.

Now, voters can sign up for the permanent early voting list once and receive ballots in the mail for each election they are eligible to participate in without sending a new request each time.

More than two-thirds — 68% to be exact — of Arizona voters were on the permanent early voting list, or PEVL, as of Jan. 5, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

But Payne said he does not actually intend to scrap the permanent early voting list, despite sponsoring legislation to do so.

“It can’t pass and I don’t want to waste my time with it,” he said hours after filing House Bill 2370, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Walt Blackman, R-Snowflake.

Instead, Payne said he intends to change the entire text later with what is known as a “striker” or “strike everything” amendment, a procedural move that allows new legislation to get introduced after statutory deadlines.

Payne said he is serious, though, about legislation that would require voters to sign the envelope containing their ballots in front of a notary public, who would have to notarize it as well.

Voters are already required to sign the envelope and election officials match the signatures against voter registration records.

Payne said it would be even better to require a notary witness the signing.

“People don’t feel confident about the signature verification,” he said.

Or, under House Bill 2369, a voter who received a ballot by mail could still deliver it to a polling place and drop it there, after showing poll workers proper identification.

But getting a notary may be much easier for some voters than others, particularly voters who have limited mobility or live in very rural areas.

And the bill would scrap a provision of current law that allows family members and household members to deliver ballots to polling places on behalf of voters.

Rep. Athena Salman, a Democrat from Tempe who sits on the House Government and Elections Committee, argued both bills would only make it harder to vote.

"They’re trying to stop eligible voters from voting because they don’t like the decisions voters are making," she said.

Salman said she expects to see more legislation this year that would make it harder to vote but raised concerns about voters' ability to comment on this legislation at a time when access to the Capitol is restricted due to security and health precautions. House committee chairs are granted broad discretion in deciding if and how to accommodate members of the public who want to participate remotely.

"It's a power grab," she said.

Voting by mail has proven popular in Arizona. About 993,000 Maricopa County voters returned ballots by mail in the general election last year and about 714,000 voted using drop boxes.

Contact Andrew Oxford at andrew.oxford@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter at @andrewboxford.