On Friday (May 26), Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed several bills passed by the state Legislature, saying they would have undermined election integrity and imposed burdensome rules making the state’s election process cumbersome.
One of the most significant bills Hobbs vetoed would have pulled the state’s participation in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a coalition of more than 30 states which share voter status information to help them keep up with voters.
A handful of Republican-led states across the country have pulled out of ERIC amid false allegations that the system is tied to liberal activists and favors left-wing candidates.
In a letter explaining her vetoes, Hobbs described ERIC as an “essential tool” to ensure accurate voter rolls.
Hobbs also opposed bills that would have required voter registration organizations to include “Not from a Government Agency” on the envelopes of election-related documents they send to people and a bill requiring election workers to count early ballots at polling places on Election Day.
Hobbs suggested that requiring ten percent of the document’s height to include “Not from Government Agency” would create an unnecessary “burden” on organizations and notes that having early Ballots counted on Election Day rather than later would be challenging to implement.
Hobbs also vetoed a bill that would have prohibited organizations from paying their employees for the number of voter registrations they collect as a “real solution” to the state’s election problems.
The fifth bill Hobbs vetoed Friday would have banned photo radar and red-light cameras statewide.
The Arizona Mirror reported that Friday’s five vetoes bring Hobbs’ total to 99 in her first term as Governor, which is significantly more than her predecessors.
