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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
AMENDED
ballots; categories; count
Purpose
Requires the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections to maintain a count of the physical ballots in specified categories and post the count on an appropriate website.
Background
The county board of supervisors, and in city and town elections, the city or town clerk, must prepare and provide ballots. Each time that an election is held in a precinct, the number of early ballots and printed ballots must exceed, by at least one percent, the number of registered voters whose name appears on the precinct register of the precinct, city, town or district. For any primary, special or general election in which votes are cast on an electronic voting machine or tabulator, the election judge must compare the number of votes cast indicated on the machine or tabulator with the number of votes cast indicated on the poll list and the number of provisional ballots cast. This information must be noted in a written report prepared and submitted to the officer in charge of elections along with other tally reports (A.R.S. §§ 16-503; 16-508; and 16-602).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires the officer in charge of elections, without regard to the system or method that is used to produce or tabulate ballots, to maintain a count of the number of physical ballots that are printed and the number of ballots that are otherwise generated, including the amount of any overlap, into the following categories:
a) early ballots;
b) regular ballots;
c) provisional ballots;
d) federal-only ballots;
e) duplicated ballots;
f) test ballots;
g) ballots used for logic and accuracy testing;
h) replacement early ballots as reported to the officer in charge of elections by the county recorder; and
i) ballots that are generated in an electronic form and that are itemized by the prescribed categories.
2. Requires the officer in charge of elections to post the prescribed ballot category information on an appropriate website and provide this information to the Secretary of State (SOS) not later than 48 hours after a county board of supervisors transmits the county canvass to the SOS.
3. Requires the SOS to post each county's information on its website.
4. Makes technical changes.
5. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee of the Whole
1. Adds duplicated ballots, test ballots, ballots used for logic and accuracy testing and replacement early ballots to the list of categories for which election officials must maintain specified counts.
2. Requires the prescribed ballot counts to be posted online not later than 48 hours after a county board of supervisors transmits the county canvass to the SOS.
3. Requires only an officer in charge of elections, rather than a county recorder, to maintain prescribed ballot counts and post such counts on the appropriate websites.
4. Makes technical and conforming changes.
Senate Action
JUDE 1/21/26 DP 4-3-0
Prepared by Senate Research
February 23, 2026
ZD/ci