SB1518 - 561R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 16, chapter 4, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 16-407.04, to read:

START_STATUTE16-407.04. Ballot images; cast vote record; ballot storage; electronic portal; violation; classification; definition

A. Notwithstanding any other law:

1. All ballot images and cast vote records shall be available as public records.

2. After the primary and general election and not later than forty-eight hours after the certification of election results by the approval of the official county canvass, the county recorder or other county officer in charge of elections shall submit the unaltered ballot images and cast vote records used in the tabulation of the election in a sortable format to the secretary of state, who shall immediately post them on a secure website in a convenient downloadable format.

3. The county recorder or other county officer in charge of elections shall ensure that paper ballots are stored in a manner that allows for convenient retrieval.

4. The secretary of state, county recorder or other county officer in charge of elections is not liable for any personal identifying information, handwritten statements or other notations made or provided by the voter that are included in the ballot images.

5. The secretary of state shall establish and administer an electronic portal to receive requests for and provide access to the materials prescribed by this section. The secretary of state shall require the following from any person requesting access:

(a) The name, address, email address and telephone number of the person and the secretary of state shall verify that information using established authentication protocols.

(b) A declaration signed by the person stating that the person will not do any of the following:

(i) Alter or misrepresent the images or cast vote records in any manner to report inaccurate election results or data.

(ii) Use any election record or combination of records to reveal how another person voted.

6. A person who violates paragraph 5, subdivision (b) of this subsection is guilty of a class 5 felony.

B. For the purposes of this section, "cast vote record" means the electronic records available within an election management system that show how the votes were cast on each anonymous ballot for each race and that allow for verification of the accumulated vote totals for each candidate or issue together with a summary report for each batch for counties whose election management system does not tie images of electronically adjudicated ballots to underlying original ballot images. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 16-550, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by Laws 2022, chapter 271, section 2, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-550. Receipt of voter's ballot; cure period

A. Except for early ballots tabulated as prescribed in section 16-579.02 or received after a voter's identification is confirmed as prescribed by section 16-579, subsection A, paragraph 4, on receipt of the envelope containing the early ballot and the ballot affidavit, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall compare the signatures thereon signature on the envelope with the signature of the elector on the elector's registration record. If the signature is inconsistent with the elector's signature on the elector's registration record, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall make reasonable efforts to contact the voter, advise the voter of the inconsistent signature and allow the voter to correct or the county to confirm the inconsistent signature. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall allow signatures to be corrected not later than the fifth business day after a primary, general or special election that includes a federal office or the third business day after any other election. If the signature is missing, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall make reasonable efforts to contact the elector, advise the elector of the missing signature and allow the elector to add the elector's signature not later than 7:00 p.m. on election day. If satisfied that the signatures correspond, the recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall hold the envelope containing the early ballot and the completed affidavit unopened in accordance with the rules of the secretary of state.

B. The recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall thereafter safely keep the affidavits and early ballots in the recorder's or other officer's office and may deliver them for tallying pursuant to section 16-551. Tallying of ballots may begin immediately after the envelope and completed affidavit are processed pursuant to this section and delivered to the early election board.

C. The county recorder shall send a list of all voters who were issued early ballots to the election board of the precinct in which the voter is registered.

D. This section does not apply to:

1. A special taxing district that is authorized pursuant to section 16-191 to conduct its own elections.

2. A special district mail ballot election that is conducted pursuant to article 8.1 of this chapter. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 16-572, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-572. Delivery and custody of ballots at polling place

A. On opening the polls, the inspector shall produce the sealed package of official ballots and publicly open it and deliver one book or block of ballots therein contained to the judges. The inspector shall retain the other blocks or books of ballots, if any, shall be retained by the inspector until called for by the judges and required for voting.

B. One of the judges of election shall keep the ballots within the polling place in plain view of the public and deliver them only to qualified voters.

C. A person shall not take or remove a ballot from the polling place before the polls are closed. The chain of custody log for early ballots returned at voting locations on election day shall be available for inspection by the public, the political parties, committees representing ballot measures on the ballot and the candidates on the ballot within forty-eight hours after election day. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Section 16-579, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-579. Procedure for obtaining ballot by elector

A. Every qualified elector, before receiving a ballot, shall announce the elector's name and place of residence in a clear, audible tone of voice to the election official in charge of the signature roster or present the elector's name and residence in writing. The election official in charge of the signature roster shall comply with the following and the qualified elector shall be allowed within the voting area:

1. The elector shall present any of the following:

(a) A valid form of identification that bears the photograph, name and address of the elector that reasonably appear to be the same as the name and address in the precinct register, including an Arizona driver license, an Arizona nonoperating identification license, a tribal enrollment card or other form of tribal identification or a United States federal, state or local government issued identification. Identification is deemed valid unless it can be determined on its face that it has expired.

(b) Two different items that contain the name and address of the elector that reasonably appear to be the same as the name and address in the precinct register, including a utility bill, a bank or credit union statement that is dated within ninety days of the date of the election, a valid Arizona vehicle registration, an Arizona vehicle insurance card, an Indian census card, tribal enrollment card or other form of tribal identification, a property tax statement, a recorder's certificate, a voter registration card, a valid United States federal, state or local government issued identification or any mailing that is labeled as "official election material". Identification is deemed valid unless it can be determined on its face that it has expired.

(c) A valid form of identification that bears the photograph, name and address of the elector except that if the address on the identification does not reasonably appear to be the same as the address in the precinct register or the identification is a valid United States military identification card or a valid United States passport and does not bear an address, the identification must be accompanied by one of the items listed in subdivision (b) of this paragraph.

2. If the elector does not present identification that complies with paragraph 1 of this subsection, the elector is only eligible to vote a provisional ballot as prescribed by section 16-584 or a conditional provisional ballot as provided for in the secretary of state's instruction and procedures manual adopted pursuant to section 16-452.

3. If the voter surrenders the early ballot to the precinct inspector and the voter is not otherwise required to be issued a provisional ballot, the voter shall be issued a standard ballot after presenting identification pursuant to this subsection. The precinct inspector shall retain the surrendered early ballot, unopened in its affidavit envelope.

4. During the period of early voting, if a voter is issued an early ballot at any early voting location or presents at any early voting location the voter's mailed early ballot and the voter presents and confirms identification that complies with paragraph 1 of this subsection, the voter's early ballot is deemed ready for tabulating, and additional signature verification of the completed affidavit envelope as prescribed by section 16-550 is not required.

B. Any qualified elector who is listed as having applied for an early ballot but who states that the elector has not voted and will not vote an early ballot for this election or surrenders the early ballot to the precinct inspector on election day shall be allowed to vote pursuant to the procedure set forth in section 16-584, except that for elections conducted using an electronic pollbook or similar system with continuous voter usage updates, the following apply:

1. If the electronic pollbook or other system indicates that the voter's early ballot has not been returned or accepted by the county recorder and the voter is not otherwise required to be issued a provisional ballot, the voter may be issued a standard ballot after presenting identification pursuant to subsection A of this section.

2. If the electronic pollbook or other system indicates that the voter's early ballot has been received or accepted by the county recorder, the voter may not be issued a standard ballot and may only be issued a provisional ballot as prescribed in section 16-584.

C. Each qualified elector's name shall be numbered consecutively by the clerks and in the order of applications for ballots. The judge shall give the qualified elector only one ballot and a ballot privacy folder, and the elector's name shall be immediately checked on the precinct register. Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection, an elector shall not be required to accept or use a ballot privacy folder.

D. For precincts in which a paper signature roster is used, each qualified elector shall sign the elector's name in the signature roster before receiving a ballot, but an inspector or judge may sign the roster for an elector who is unable to sign because of physical disability, and in that event the name of the elector shall be written with red ink, and no attestation or other proof shall be necessary. The provisions of this subsection relating to signing the signature roster shall do not apply to electors casting a ballot using early voting procedures.

E. For precincts in which an electronic poll book system is used, each qualified elector shall sign the elector's name as prescribed in the instructions and procedures manual adopted by the secretary of state pursuant to section 16-452 before receiving a ballot, but an inspector or judge may sign the roster for an elector who is unable to sign because of physical disability, and in that event the name of the elector shall be written with the inspector's or judge's attestation on the same signature line.

F. A person offering to vote at a special district election for which no special district register has been supplied shall sign an affidavit stating the person's address and that the person resides within the district boundaries or proposed district boundaries and swearing that the person is a qualified elector and has not already voted at the election being held. END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Section 16-673, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-673. Statement of contest; verification; filing

A. The elector contesting a state election shall, within five seven days after completion of the canvass of the election and declaration of the result thereof by the secretary of state or by the governor, shall file in the court in which the contest is commenced a statement in writing setting forth:

1. The name and residence of the party person contesting the election, and that he the person is an elector of the state and county in which he the person resides.

2. The name of the person whose right to the office is contested, or the title of the measure, or constitutional amendment, or other proposition as it appeared upon on the official ballot.

3. The office the election to which is contested.

4. The particular grounds of the contest.

B. The statement shall be verified by the affidavit of the contestor that he the contestor believes the matters and things therein contained in the statement are true. END_STATUTE