Arizona advances voter ID ballot measure for November

By Brentin Mock

Early voting and ballot drop off sign board in English and Spanish in Tucson AZ

Arizona lawmakers passed a ballot proposal early Saturday morning that would mandate photo identification for voting, even for mail-in and absentee ballots. 

Republicans refused to answer questions and shut down debate when Democrats asked how voters would be able to follow this mandate, which one state senator said “opens the door to … no more mail-in voting.” 

The measure, which voters will decide upon in this November’s elections, reflects a troubling new wave of restrictive voter ID ballot referendums emerging in states such as California, Nevada and Ohio. Such laws have been known to disenfranchise otherwise eligible voters who lack ID or the means to obtain it.

In California and Nevada, the ballot measures request voters to enter the last four digits of a state-issued ID card, such as a driver’s license or social security card, when submitting a mail-in ballot. 

Ohio lawmakers recently passed a law that would have voters present ID when requesting an absentee ballot or when casting an absentee ballot in person. The state would also create an online portal where voters could scan their IDs when making absentee ballot requests, if the legislation is signed into law. 

However, if the Arizona measure passes, there is no language in the house nor the senate ballot proposals that specifies how voters would show ID when mailing in ballots.

“Every voter must show valid government issued proof of identity before casting a ballot in each election, whether voting in person or by any other method, as prescribed by law,” reads the House resolution. 

After questioning the practical logistics of this, Democrat state Sen. Lauren Kuby said, “This is a rushed attempt and a very thinly veiled attempt to eliminate mail-in voting,” according to a local broadcast news outlet.

Arizona House Speaker Pro Tempore Neal Carter, a Republican, yelled physically confronted Democrat Rep. Oscar De Los Santo, who at the time was speaking out against what he called a “voter suppression bill.”

In a follow-up X post, De Los Santo said the bill would “end early voting for Arizonans.”

The voter ID measure reflects provisions that Arizona Republicans had been trying to pass via legislation, but were vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs. Passing the provisions via a ballot referendum that will go directly before voters circumvents a governor veto. 

The Arizona measure also reinforces that only citizens may vote, prohibits foreign contributions for candidate and ballot measure campaigns, and allows early voters to have their ballot counted immediately at their polling place. If passed, it would be put in place for 2028.