Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoes ballot counting bill that GOP state lawmakers touted

PHOENIX - Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed a bill that Republican Party lawmakers in the state legislature claim will allow for faster election results in future elections.

The backstory:

We previously reported on the bill, known officially as HB2703, on Feb. 14.

"After the election, we heard from our constituents who were extremely frustrated after waiting days and days to find out who won the election," said State Senate President Warren Petersen. "The first bill to hit the Governor’s desk is a bill that will give us election results the night of the election."

Had Gov. Hobbs signed HB2703 into law, several changes would have been made to Arizona's election process, such as allowing ballots dropped off by voters in Maricopa County to be counted on-site, if the ballots were dropped off at an early voting location after 7:00 p.m. on the Friday before Election Day.

For the other 14 counties, voters would be required to show identification if they drop off their mail-in ballot at a polling location after the Friday before Election Day. They would also have the choice to drop off their ballot at the Country Recorder’s Office.

Dig deeper:

In a letter to state lawmakers, Gov. Hobbs said she vetoed HB2703 for a number of reasons.

Per Gov. Hobbs, the bill would "effectively end" the Active Early Voting List, which she said has nothing to do with faster election results, and would also have the effect of disenfranchising voters by "adding additional steps for the hundreds of thousands of Arizona voters who prefer to vote by mail."

"Making it less convenient to vote is something I have consistently said I cannot support," read a portion of the letter.

In addition, Gov. Hobbs said she proposed a number of compromises on the bill, like Friday early ballot drop-off restrictions, protecting the Active Early Voting List, cross-county portability of voter registration, and expanded assistance for eligible voters to return their ballots in a timely manner.

"Unfortunately, any potential compromise was rejected, leading me to believe the focus of the legislation is disenfranchising eligible voters, not delivering faster election results for Arizonans," read a portion of the letter. "Any bill on this issue must reflect the efforts of good-faith negotiations and uphold Arizona citizens' access to the ballot box."

Gov. Hobbs' veto of HB2703 comes as no surprise, as she had previously expressed her opposition to the bill on X.

The other side:

After Gov. Hobbs announced her veto of the bill, State Senate President Warren Petersen issued a statement that criticized the veto, calling it a 'huge mistake.'

"This was a missed opportunity to increase voter confidence and reduce frustration on election night," State Sen. Petersen wrote. "Instead of working with Republicans in good-faith to provide much-needed reforms to our election processes, the Governor impeded all efforts to ensure Arizona can report the vast majority of votes on Election Night."

What's next:

According to the Arizona State Constitution, the State Legislature can override a governor's veto with by two-thirds of the members elected to each of the State Legislature's two houses.

Currently, there are 33 Republicans in the State House (55% of the seats) and 17 Republicans in the State Senate (56% of the seats). This means the bill's veto cannot be overridden by GOP lawmakers alone, as they do not hold enough seats to override a veto without help from Democratic lawmakers.