Arizona lawmakers send ballot security bill to Hobbs

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(The Center Square) - The fate of additional protection against ballot fraud remains pending in Arizona as Gov. Katie Hobbs determines whether to sign a bill into law.

The Arizona Legislature passed Senate Bill 1057 along partisan lines, which will add at least three anti-fraud countermeasures to ballots such as watermarks, customized holograms and forensic ink technology. Republicans, who control both houses of the Legislature but lack enough seats to override the Democratic governor's vetoes, voted for the legislation.

Sen. Mark Finchem, R-Prescott, the bill’s sponsor, told The Center Square on Thursday that if Arizona is going to “protect the franchise of every legitimate American voter,” it needs to “have a robust fraud countermeasures program to go on the ballots.”

"Arizona voters deserve confidence that every legitimate ballot cast is protected from fraud, counterfeiting and tampering," Finchem said.

“We use advanced security features to protect currency, financial documents and other sensitive materials. There's no reason election ballots should be held to a lower standard,” he added. “This legislation brings additional layers of verification and accountability to the election process while helping strengthen public trust in our system."

Finchem said people seeking to tamper with Arizona elections “are always looking for new and unique ways” to do so.

He noted the disenfranchisement of voters occurs in Arizona if the state “can’t rely” on a voting system “to exclude people” who misrepresent who they are when they “cast a ballot.”

“That’s unacceptable,” Finchem noted.

The idea with these types of bills, according to Finchem, is to “put as many things up” to “enhance voters’ standing so somebody else won’t disenfranchise their election.”

But Finchem told The Center Square he thought Hobbs would veto it. In the past, Hobbs has vetoed numerous bills Finchem has introduced about strengthening Arizona’s election laws.

“She doesn’t want election security,” the state senator noted, calling Hobbs a "typical Democrat."

SB 1057 is “good public policy to secure elections,” Finchem added.

Looking ahead, Finchem said he was not sure whether he would pursue introducing these election security provisions as a resolution to be voted on as a constitutional amendment.

The senator said constitutional amendments need to be broader and “higher level in scope” than fraud countermeasures on ballots.

If a Republican becomes Arizona’s governor in November, Finchem said he would potentially revisit this idea. He added that he would also look at the vulnerabilities in Arizona’s election system and offer solutions.