I am pleased to report to you that Arizona Senate has
passed an important bill modernizing the business of gathering political
petitions. You know my commitment to enhancing the integrity of our elections
while working every day to make it easier for citizens to cast their vote. This
bill, HB
2107, accomplishes both those goals.
The bill makes permanent a pilot project to let voters
sign petitions online at the Secretary of State’s website. Not only is this
process easier for candidates and voters, but the integrity and accuracy of a
voter’s online “signature” is greatly improved. The pilot project demonstrated
that the integrity of the system is so good that no one has brought a legal
challenge to petition signatures obtained online.
Written signatures on paper are still the way for
persons proposing ballot initiatives or recalls to qualify for the ballot. It
takes over 200,000 signatures to get a question on the ballot. It takes six to
eight weeks to verify those signatures. But, in order to accommodate early
ballots, the timeframe for checking those signatures is compressed and stressful
for election officials.
These days, anyone seeking to qualify a question for the
ballot relies on paid signature gatherers and pays them on a per-signature
basis. That system creates huge incentives for fraudulent signatures. To improve
and expedite verification of this business HB
2107:
- Requires all paid and out of state signature gatherers to register with the AzSOS before they start collecting signatures.
- Invalidates signatures collected by unregistered gatherers.
- Requires initiative sponsors to be responsible for the integrity of those they are paying to obtain signatures.
- Ensures due process and equity when litigation is brought challenging signatures obtained by paid gatherers.
As the chair of the Senate Elections Committee, I have
fought the influence of dark money and sought to expose the nameless, faceless
hordes of activists that seek to dominate the ballot with their special interest
legislation. As your Secretary of State, I will continue this fight every day
I’m in office.
Thank you.
Sen. Michele Reagan
