PHX Reporter

The For the People Act, legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and currently pending before the Senate, would make sweeping changes to future federal elections, some of which could negate existing state laws, critics argue.

Under current Arizona laws, absentee ballots must be accompanied by an affidavit stating that the voter understands that attempting to vote twice is a felony, and must be received by the county no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day, either by mail or hand-delivered. Although the proposed federal law will permit the affidavit, it would override the current deadline in state law.

“A state may not refuse to accept or process a ballot submitted by an individual by mail with respect to an election for federal office in the state on the grounds that the individual did not meet a deadline for returning the ballot to the appropriate state or local election official if the ballot is postmarked or otherwise indicated by the U.S. Postal Service to have been mailed on or before the date of the election, or has been signed by the voter on or before the date of the election,” the pending federal law reads.

Additionally, the act, designated HR 1, requires any mail-in ballot received up to 10 days after the election to be counted. Sections 1621-1624 of H.R. 1 also would give states the option not to verify signatures on absentee or mail-in ballots. It also makes it more difficult to dismiss a questionable voter signature, requiring that no fewer than two election judges be present and agree to do so.

Proponents of the bill, such as the Brennan Center for Justice, argue that this and other measures in the legislation will make it easier to vote in federal elections. However, criticisms such as that published in the National Review question the wisdom of overriding the right of states to regulate elections and argue that the mandates in the legislation are extreme and overburden states in a way that makes compliance difficult.

Mail-in ballots have been widely used in Arizona for over 20 years and more than 80% of voters in the State use mail in ballots, according to the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.