Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed several bills on Friday that were passed by the state’s GOP-controlled legislature that she argued would have undermined election integrity and introduced burdensome regulations that would have made Arizona’s electoral process more complicated and difficult.
One of the most significant bills she vetoed would have pulled the state from its involvement in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a coalition of more than 30 states that share information on voters’ status to help them maintain updated voter rolls.
A few Republican-led states throughout the country have pulled out from ERIC following false claims that the system is tied to liberal activists and favors left-leaning candidates.
Hobbs said in her veto letter that ERIC is an “essential tool” to ensure accurate voter rolls.
“It is unfortunate that many Republicans in the Legislature continue to fan the flames of false allegations of voter fraud, yet send to my desk a bill that would prevent Arizona from joining organizations that actually help improve the integrity of our elections,” she said.
Hobbs also vetoed bills that would have required voter registration organizations to print “Not from a Government Agency” on the envelopes of election-related documents they send to people and that would have required election workers to count early ballots at polling sites on Election Day.
Hobbs argued that the requirement that the “Not from a Government Agency” take up 10 percent of a document’s height would create an “unreasonable burden” on the organizations, and the logistics of election officials counting early ballots on Election Day instead of later would be difficult to implement.
She also vetoed a bill that would have prevented organizations from paying their employees for the number of voter registrations that they collect, arguing that it is not the “right solution” to challenges facing the state’s elections.
Hobbs also vetoed a bill that would have banned photo radar and red-light cameras statewide.
The Arizona Mirror reported that the five vetoes bring Hobbs’s total number during her first term as governor to 99, more than any of her predecessors.
Republicans hold narrow majorities in both houses of the state legislature.
Hobbs previously vetoed several other election-related bills in the past two months, including legislation that would have changed requirements for voters to remain on the active early voter list, required voter tabulation equipment to be manufactured in the U.S. and meet standards from the Defense Department and required that representatives of both parties can challenge election workers’ decisions in determining is a signature on a ballot is valid.