JOINT STATEMENT FROM BUILDING BACK TOGETHER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DANIELLE MELFI AND VOTING RIGHTS COALITION ON ARIZONA SENATE BILL 1241

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 29, 2021

JOINT STATEMENT FROM BUILDING BACK TOGETHER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DANIELLE MELFI AND VOTING RIGHTS COALITION ON ARIZONA SENATE BILL 1241

Statement signatories include: Chispa Arizona, Tomorrow We Vote Action, Maricopa County Branch NAACP, Poder Latinx, Fuerte Arts Movement, Rural Arizona Action, Mi Familia Vota, Opportunity Arizona, Arizona Advocacy Network, Progress Arizona, Arizona AFL-CIO, Civic Engagement Beyond Voting, Arizona Student Association, Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, Arizona Center for Women’s Advancement (ACWA), National Council of Jewish Women Arizona (NCJWAZ), UFCW 99, Human Rights Campaign Arizona, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Indivisible Arizona

This week, the Arizona Senate will consider S.B. 1241, an elections bill with a provision that would inexplicably subject thousands of Arizona voters, many of them seniors, to criminal investigation.

If enacted, this dangerous legislation could subject voters to investigation by law enforcement if their signatures do not match, and they don’t take the extra steps to cure their mismatched signature. While Arizona allows voters to correct their signature or prove their identity within five days of the election, many voters might choose not to cure their signature. This shouldn’t subject voters to an investigation. Thousands of Arizonans make that choice each and every election cycle, especially when the election is not close. Voters may also be unaware that their ballot has a signature issue, since election officials have limited time and resources to contact all voters with that situation.

This law would have a disproportionate impact on older voters. Courts across the country have found that older voters are the most affected by alleged signature mismatches, since their handwriting differs over the years, and they may have “less pen control than most other writers,” as multiple court cases have established, including Richardson v. Texas Secretary of State and Frederick v. Lawson. The same is true of voters with disabilities.

The sweep of this provision for criminal referral is extraordinary. Arizona has a long and proud history of early voting by mail that has been effectively administered and extremely popular. More than 80 percent of Arizonans vote by mail, including the majority of Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters. Subjecting those who have cast a ballot but declined to pursue a cure to potential criminal investigation will have no impact on fraudulent voting. Fraudulent voting is already prohibited by federal and state law, and law enforcement has extensive tools to address it. As the law stands now, county recorders are empowered and encouraged to present evidence of fraud to local and state law enforcement. This bill, however, will mandate the referral for criminal law enforcement of thousands of voters, many of them elderly, without any such evidence. This is indefensible.

No legislature aware of these consequences should enact this provision into law. The Arizona Senate must take immediate steps to ensure that this provision is never enacted.

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