(The Center Square) – Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a bill on Friday into law that will move up Arizona’s primary.
Alex Kolodin, R-Fountain Hills, introduced House Bill 2022, which changes the election from the first Tuesday in August to the last Tuesday in July.
The new primary election date is set for July 21 this year. The change was made to allow more time to process ballots from voters who are in the military.
The Arizona House passed it 56-4, and the Senate passed it 27-1.
In addition to changing the primary election date, HB 2022 changes the language from “business days” to “calendar days” for the review of provisional ballots.
In federal elections, provisional ballots must be reviewed within seven calendar days; in other elections, within five calendar days, the new law states.
HB 2022 allows county party chairs to name official party observers at ballot replacement locations. Observers must be Arizona residents registered to vote.
The law also allows political parties to place challengers at voting centers, including in-person voting and emergency voting locations.
HB 2022 permits petitions listing the old August primary date to remain valid, including paper petitions and electronic signature collection.
After the bill passed, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said his office will “work diligently to ensure candidates and voters alike are made aware of the new timeline this election year.”
“I am grateful for the swift work of the legislature in ushering this bill’s ultimate passage. It is a solid reminder that bipartisan efforts can still benefit every Arizona voter,” he noted.
In the Senate, Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, introduced SB 1425, the companion bill to HB 2022.
The new primary election date is intended to ensure military service members’ ballots are mailed in on time.
Rogers, who is a U.S. Air Force veteran, told The Center Square by email that “it is vital our right to vote as military serving away from home is protected, even as laws change.”
Arizona has moved its primary election date a few times up in the last decade. Rogers said the changes “did not impact turnout in any real way.” She noted the reasons are that Arizonans primarily vote by mail and primaries traditionally have low voter turnout.
With Arizona now allowing political party observers to be at voting locations, “transparency is key to ensuring confidence in any government function, especially so with elections,” Rogers said.
“Voters must be reassured by the system and thus confident in its outcome,” she added.
Rogers told The Center Square that her bill and HB 2022 were designed to permit “enough time in the election calendar for all necessary administrative steps of an election to occur.”
