Democratic dissent wasn’t enough to stop Arizona’s House City Oversight and Elections Committee from passing four bills aimed at electoral transparency on Wednesday.

The bill, which was all Republican-sponsored, was intended to restore faith in the electoral process in the minds of Arizona voters.

The House also voted in favor of a bill confirming that Congress supports the Electoral College.

prohibit the secretary of state from overseeing his own elections

the committee voted to pass it to the floor of the House of Representatives HB2308a bill that would make it illegal for Arizona’s Secretary of State to oversee and verify the results of elections in which they are candidates.

The bill, introduced by Republican Rep. Rachel Jones of Tucson, instead says the Secretary of State must publicly appoint a person to undertake these duties.

“It just removes a potential conflict of interest with that individual in an environment where there is already a lack of trust in the electoral process,” Jones told the committee Wednesday afternoon.

Jones pointed to Rasmussen report
This shows that 71% of voters agreed that the 2022 Arizona Senate election “failed.” She also said her 65% of Democrats feel the election in Maricopa County is unfair.

Rep. César Aguilar, a Phoenix Democrat, said the bill was not intended to avoid conflicts of interest, but rather to replace Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who served as secretary of state in the 2022 election and became governor. He said he intended to attack.

Others agreed.

“Is there concrete evidence of secretary of state misconduct in the 2022 election? Or is this just addressing hypothetical concerns from voters?” Congressman de los Santos asked.

“It was just optics,” replied Jones. He was ‘instilling distrust of the election results’

Commission chairman Jacqueline Parker, a Mesa Republican representative, said the lawsuit Hobbes had filed against the Cochise County Oversight Board for refusing to authenticate the election was an excess of power and corruption within the system. Jones claimed that people in Cochise County were threatened with imprisonment by Hobbes’ attorneys, which ultimately led to the accreditation.

De Los Santos, holding back a smile, said lawyers couldn’t imprison someone, but Republicans said the intimidation itself was enough to influence the election’s certification.

Some say there is no evidence of corruption in the electoral process and the bill does not address the real issue.

“This bill addresses concerns about issues that have yet to emerge in recent history,” said Jodie Liggett, speaking on behalf of the Arizona Federation of Women Voters. “From 2002 to 2020, only three of her 51 secretaries of state who ran for high office have publicly resigned on any issue. He doesn’t have one.”

Republican Rep. Justin Heap of Phoenix said the circumstances of the 2020 election were not important to what he called a “common sense” bill.

“Rarely do you get a bill so clear and obvious that you have to wonder if it’s partisanship that’s driving downvotes,” he said. “If you were to stop Arizonans in the street and ask if election officials running for office should be allowed to administer their elections, I have no doubt they would all agree. No.”

Scottsdale Democrat Rep. Laura Terek was one of four Democrats to vote in favor of the bill. Six Republican lawmakers each voted yes, and the bill went to the House by her 7-3 vote.

Prohibit Election Officials from Engaging in PACs

The committee passed unanimously HB3278a bill that prohibits the Secretary of State, county supervisors, county registrars, and all other election officials from being associated in any way with the Political Action Committee.

“This really just puts faith back in the electoral process,” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican Majority Leader and Lake Havasu City Representative Leo Biacicucci.

Concerned about how reducing the pool of qualified election officials would affect already understaffed polling stations, Terech asked whether the bill included poll workers and field marshals. I was.

Scottsdale Republican Rep. Alexander Collodin proposed an amendment to the bill to clarify the definition of election officials, but to include those who are paid by the county, but who are volunteers. In some cases, they said they were not included.

Biasiucci and Kolodin said part of the bill’s aim is to eliminate what De Los Santos calls “dark money” — campaign donations that cannot be traced. De los Santos asked Biagiucci whether he would consider adding an amendment that said election officials could not publicly endorse a candidate, but Biagiucci said it was the People’s First Amendment. said he was concerned that it would violate the rights of

Courts should ‘actively’ support greater transparency in election decisions

The committee split along party lines HB2319 A bill that directs judges to “aggressively” support more transparent interpretations of election law.

The bill’s originator, Corrodin, said he hoped the bill would simplify “poorly written” legislation that he said would be indistinguishable to skilled lawyers, let alone the average citizen. rice field.

“This provides Congressional guidance for telling judges that what we really care about is public transparency,” he said.

De Los Santos disputed the word “aggressively.”

“For example, I am concerned that we are over-emphasizing transparency at the expense of voter privacy,” he said.

Liggett expressed concern, warning that “transparency comes first” and that Congress could exercise too much control over other branches of government.

Corodin argued that the bill would not use power over the courts or endanger voters’ privacy. It merely provides guidance to courts in interpreting confusing statutes in the spirit of transparency.

Republicans won 6 to 4 and the bill went to the floor.

Coding Signature Verification Guidelines

The committee split again with Republican support over a bill Hobbes enacted for the 2020 election when he was secretary of state that would codify the signature verification process.

HB2322
It states that the signature on the ballot envelope should be compared to the signature on the voter registration record. These guidelines should be the minimum requirements for verification.

“Arizona law now stipulates that officers must verify signatures at early voting,” Corodin said. “Unfortunately, there is no law that actually tells us how to do that.

“Whatever the rules are, it’s better to have rules than no rules.”

He said the bill would allow county officials to raise requirements if necessary.

The bill passed the House of Representatives 6-4.

HB2305a bill that would allow representatives of the two largest political parties to oversee each stage of the early, provisional and conditional provisional ballot verification process was due Wednesday but was filed due to problems with amendments. Parker said at the beginning of the meeting.

Electoral College Affirmation

The Commission concludes its afternoon meeting on the Electoral College, HB2477 Codify support for the electoral system into law.

Steve Steve, the bill’s initiator and Goodyear Montenegro’s Republican representative, said, “As a state, it’s important for us to recognize[the vision of the founding fathers]and codify it.” , we can show our value.”

Collodin and Heap supported the bill, arguing that without an electoral college, states without huge populations like California and New York would lose their say in the federal government.

Democrats objected.

“I believe in the idea of ​​one person, one vote,” said de los Santos, who voted against the bill.

The bill passed 6 to 4, again split by faction.