RTS For The Week of 3/19: Election Day Edition!
Don’t know about the Request to Speak (RTS) system for weighing in on legislation? Click here to learn more.
Happy election day, advocates! In keeping with the theme of the day, we are inviting you to weigh in on some influential bills related to voting and election processes in our state. Good thing, too, because these bills are ACTIVE, meaning your advocacy is more influential than ever!
HB 2547— Voting Center Ban (click to read the bill text)
In several Arizona counties, elections departments have moved away from location-based precincts and now use the voting center model. Since county voter rolls are now digitized, every voting center is able to be equipped with registration information and can provide appropriate ballots regardless of location. This means that anyone registered to vote in the county can vote at any location. This has been very successful, especially in Maricopa county, and in rural areas, as it makes voting easier. Commuters are able to vote near work or school, and it eliminates much of the confusion that happens when trying to find a specific precinct. Voting centers are shown to make the voting process easier and are quite popular among Arizona voters. Voting centers are not linked to increased fraud or issues in any way. Despite this, this bill seeks to ban voting centers state-wide. Elections are run on the county level so that each community is able to operate an election in the way that makes sense for their citizens. This bill precludes county election departments from making the right choices for their voters. Repealing voting centers in places like Maricopa and Graham counties will add unnecessary confusion to voters who have gotten use to the system. Worst of all, banning voting centers will make voting harder for working-class voters, and first time voters who may not be very familiar with the system.
This bill also regulates how many residents a single precinct can serve. In Maricopa County, this policy would require so many precincts that the county elections department would struggle to fully staff or fund enough locations to comply, which would add even more difficulties on election day. Election workers, county recorders offices, county elections offices, municipalities, and many voting rights organizations stand in opposition to this bill.
We at LAMA want all eligible voters to be able to vote as easily as possible! We oppose legislation like HB2547 that put up unnecessary barriers to the polls. Many, many people have already objected to this bill via the RTS system, but that has not slowed its progress. We encourage you to also reach out to your Senator’s office about this bill.
HB 2787— Voting Equipment Inspection
This bill would allow the House and Senate committee members from committees overseeing elections to inspect voting machines and equipment, with an expert of their choice, at any time, as long as they do not interrupt election day proceedings. This bill does not stipulate any specific oversight requirements for these hypothetical inspections.
This bill raises concerns about election tampering. More than one committee oversees elections, meaning that this policy would allow a good number of law makers access to voting equipment. Best practices state that only qualified elections personal should have access to this equipment, and only in the presence of the appropriate checks and balances, so that county election departments can ensure the equipment is not tampered with. This bill also does not stipulate what it means by an “expert,” meaning that a law maker could functionally invite just about anyone to inspect the machines with them. This presents a sizeable security risk.
Furthermore, many of the lawmakers who would gain access to these machines are in no way experts in elections. These inspections would open the flood gates for election denial claims, as bad-faith lawmakers would be able to justify unsubstantiated claims just by saying they were able to “inspect” the equipment.
This policy would also add significant work to our elections departments by requiring them to facilitate an unlimited number of these inspections with no more than five days notice. This would substantially interrupt necessary day-to-day operations.
This bill is opposed by several voter rights organizations and community organizing groups.
Bonus Bills!
If you have not weighed in on these bills yet, we hope you will! We also encourage you to write to your Senators regarding them; the SNAP bills will soon be voted on on the floor, and YIGBY still needs our pressure to keep up traction.
HB 2502 & 2503 — Check out this week’s article on Autumn’s visit to the Senate, last week’s RTS alert about these bills, or action alert for more information on these bills. These bills would drastically restrict access to SNAP assistance for hungry and struggling Arizonans. Despite opposition and continued pressure from us, and our partners, these bills keep passing through committee on thin margins. The bills are set to be voted on by the Senate sometime soon, so we must take further steps to protect SNAP access for our neighbors. Please join us and urge your Senator to vote NO on these bills!
HB 2815 — Yes In God’s Backyard is a bipartisan bill that creates a zoning designation allowing houses of worship to construct low and middle income housing on their properties, even when not zoned for residential use. This would allow many of our congregations who feel called to take meaningful next steps in serving those facing housing insecurity. This policy has the potential to significantly help treat the homelessness crisis in Arizona. It passes the House but has yet to even be assigned to a committee in the Senate. After weighing in via RTS, please write to your Senator expressing the importance of this bill!
Find contact information for your Senators here.
How to Weigh in
Log into your RTS Account here, and select the blue “Request to Speak” app.
Select “My Bill Positions” from the menu on the left.
Enter the bill number in the search bar and select the bill when it pops up
Select your stance and click the blue “Add” button
Thank you for your advocacy!
