(RepublicanInformer.com)- On Monday, both the Arizona House and Senate approved a measure that will appear on the November ballot which would beef up voter ID requirements both for those voting in person and voting by mail.
The new voter ID ballot measure, SCR1012, would require early voters to provide, in addition to a signature, their date of birth and an ID number from either a driver’s license, state-issued ID, or the last four digits of a social security number on their return ballots.
Under the state’s current system, those voting by mail only have to provide a signature which county election officials can then compare to the signature on verified voter registration documents.
The ballot measure was approved after Republican lawmakers raised concerns that Arizona’s current voter ID laws are not sufficient in preventing fraud or illegal voting, especially in light of what occurred in the state during the 2020 presidential election.
The ballot measure would also limit the kind of identification that is acceptable for those voting in person. Under this measure, voters would no longer be permitted to use identification that does not include a photograph, like a utility bill or a tax bill.
If the measure succeeds in November, it would likely go into effect by the 2024 Arizona primary.
Arizona Democrats are naturally outraged, making the same accusations of “voter suppression” that they always trot out when Republicans strengthen election integrity.
But according to state Republicans, the measures will ensure that every legal vote is counted by making certain the ballots mailed to a voter are used only by that voter. This way, if a ballot is stolen from a mailbox, the lack of appropriate identification will make fraud even harder to pull off.
Last Friday, the Arizona Republican Party announced that it had filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court to get rid of the “no-excuse absentee balloting system” that has been in place in Arizona since 1991.
