Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey Signs Bill Allowing Mail Voter Purges

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed SB 1485 into law Tuesday. The law mandates automatic purges of registered mail voters who are deemed infrequent.

The Republican-controlled Arizona House of Representatives and Senate passed the bill amending their state’s vote-by-mail process including removing voters from the state’s permanent early voting list. Voters removed from the list would no longer receive automatic mail-in ballots.

“This bill is simple, it’s all about election integrity,” Ducey said in a video statement Tuesday.

The law says that if a voter does not participate in two election cycles, their name will be struck from the permanent voting list and no longer receive an automatic mail-in ballot. Voters due to be removed must be notified by mail 30 to 90 days before their name is removed.

“Most voters want to have an election system that they can count on,” state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-Arizona) said at a news conference during the bill’s Senate hearings in April. “It isn’t about the outcome of it, it’s more about having confidence and faith in the outcome of an election.”