Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs Vetoes Bill to Speed Up Ballot Counting
Arizona will have to wait for now to fix its election woes.
Only California counts its votes slower than Arizona. Thanks to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), that won’t be changing any time soon.
On Feb. 18, she vetoed a bill that would have moved the deadline for the return of early, in-person ballots to Friday evening before Election Day. Currently, voters may turn in early ballots until the polls close. The bill would require voters on the Active Early Voter List to confirm their address each election cycle, ensuring the state isn’t mailing absentee ballots to ineligible voters.
In the past few elections, county officials in Arizona took weeks to verify early voter signatures. This came partly because up to 200,000 votes get dropped off each cycle at polling places on Election Day, which Arizonans call "late-earlies."
(READ MORE: State Rep: $350 Million Disappeared from Arizona’s Budget under Gov. Katie Hobbs’ Watch)
Hobbs blames longer wait times on Arizona’s increased competitiveness. But that excuse doesn’t hold water, because no other swing state except Pennsylvania took nearly as long as Arizona this past election—and that was a unique case of a few Pennsylvania counties ignoring state law.
Republican Senate President Warren Pattersen stated, "The governor impeded all efforts to ensure Arizona can report the vast majority of votes on Election Night."
This marked Hobbs' 217th veto since taking office in 2023. Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) held the previous record of 181 vetoes over the course of six years.
Arizona Republicans based the election bill on Florida’s election laws. Despite having the third largest population, Florida has long managed to count its ballots and report its results before many states less than half its size, thanks to smart election reform bills passed to correct the election debacle it experienced in 2000.
Florida has roughly the same early vote deadline Arizona Republicans are proposing, and it boasts a much higher turnout than Arizona. This bill would also leave a much longer time for early voting than Florida allows.
Hobbs still accused Republicans of trying to disenfranchise voters—a tired playbook Democrats resort to anytime Republicans offer legislation to make elections run more smoothly and more securely.
Despite the setback, Arizona Republicans are not backing down.
Petersen said the status quo for the state’s elections "is not an option," adding, "Arizona should never again be the laughingstock of the nation for its woefully slow election reporting. Our caucus will be discussing a path forward on this issue in the days and weeks ahead."
Republicans already put a backup plan into motion. On Feb. 17, the House of Representatives passed Concurrent Resolution 2013, which—if approved by the Senate—will go to the voters as an amendment on the 2026 ballot along with the next governor’s race.
Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ-05), state Treasurer Kimberlee Lee, and businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robinson have so far entered the race in the Republican primary. Hobbs has not yet said if she’ll seek reelection, but it wouldn’t be surprising if she sits this one out. Barely two years into her administration, she’s already racked up multiple scandals, backed dangerous policies, and vetoed nearly everything the people’s representatives sent to her desk. For instance,
- Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, opened an investigation into her for a pay-to-play scheme involving a major donor to her inaugural fund;
- As soon as she was elected, she tried to abolish education freedom for students with disabilities;
- She abetted the Biden administration’s open borders assault on American communities by vetoing a bill to allow state and local police to arrest illegal aliens; and
- She was recently credibly accused of allowing $350 million to disappear from the state’s budget.
Arizona desperately needs election reform to speed up its vote counting and inspire confidence in its elections among its own voters. Until Arizonans have a governor who wants to govern, the legislature will have to continue to rely on popular democracy to pass legislation. If Concurrent Resolution 2013 makes it to the ballot, Arizona voters will get to fix both of those problems in 2026.
(READ MORE: Voter Rolls Like They Oughta Be)
