BREAKING NEWS: Late yesterday the governor vetoed one of the more important election integrity bills, HB2617. This bill would have removed people who are no longer eligible to vote in Arizona. The reasons given by the governor are totally bogus. This bill was heavily amended on the House floor by Rep. Chaplik and on the Senate floor by Sen. Petersen. The combination of those two amendments makes it clear that HB2617, as sent to the governor, was neither vague, nor subject to actions by bad players, nor subject to any of the objections the governor claimed. Either the governor did not read this bill as amended, or there is a more nefarious reason for his veto.
We did make some progress in both the governor and the legislature fronts.
Among the bills that were previously transmitted to the governor, he signed all six bills that we are tracking, which are:
HB2025 – schools; parental classroom visitation policies
HB2086 – DHS; school immunizations; exclusions
HB2237 – same day voter registration; prohibition
HB2453 – governmental entities; mask requirement; prohibition
SB1477 – voter registration; felonies; clerk; database
HB2237 – same day voter registration; prohibition
On the legislative side, the news was mixed for the nine bills we are tracking.
Four have cleared their last hurdle and are headed for the governor:
HB2236 – voter registration; request required
HB2617 – voter registration; cancellations; causes (As already mentioned, the governor was very quick to veto this one)
SB1362 – early ballot on-site tabulation
SB1260 – registrations; early voting; move notice
One advanced by clearing the Senate COW:
HB2710 – registrations; counting procedures; observers; verification
One is still retained in the Senate COW:
HB2495 – schools; sexually explicit materials; prohibition
Unfortunately, three were killed by Boyer:
HB2378 – election lawsuits; settlements; approvals
HB2238 – ballot drop boxes; prohibition
HB2602 – polling places; emergency voting centers
These three bills are not radical. It is hard to understand why anyone would want to kill these bills. The only logical explanation is that Boyer is a very evil person, intentionally causing as much destruction as he can before he leaves the Senate.
We don’t know what is going to happen at the legislature next week. We only know that there is very little activity scheduled, and none of it involves bills we are tracking.
The five that are awaiting the governor’s action:
Next week’s scheduled activity includes action on eight bills that we are watching. Of those, one deals with education and the other seven deal with election integrity, as follows:
HB2495 – schools; sexually explicit materials; prohibition
HB2236 – voter registration; request required
HB2238 – ballot drop boxes; prohibition
HB2602 – polling places; emergency voting centers
HB2617 – voter registration; cancellations; causes
HB2710 – registrations; counting procedures; observers; verification
SB1362 – early ballot on-site tabulation
SB1260 – registrations; early voting; move notice
For a lot of tools and information to assist grassroots activists, go to https://azpeopleslobbyist.com/
