early voting; hours; weekends; emergencies

HB2505 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
early voting; hours; weekends; emergencies

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 2505

Introduced by

Representatives
Stahl Hamilton: Abeytia, Blattman, Cavero, Connolly, Contreras P, Crews, De
Los Santos, Garcia, Gutierrez, Liguori, Simacek, Travers, Villegas

AN
ACT

amending sections 16-246 and 16-542,
Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to conduct of elections.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 16-246, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
16-246.

Early balloting; satellite locations; additional procedures

A. Within ninety-three days before the
presidential preference election and not later than 5:00 p.m. on the eleventh
day preceding the election, any elector who is eligible to vote in the
presidential preference election may make a verbal or signed, written request
for an official early ballot to the county recorder or other officer in charge
of elections for the county in which the elector is registered to
vote. If the request is verbal, the requesting elector shall provide
the date of birth and birthplace or other information that if compared to the
voter registration records for that elector would confirm the identity of the
elector.

B. Absent uniformed services voters or overseas
voters who are otherwise eligible to vote in the election may vote as
prescribed by sections 16-543 and 16-543.02.

C. The county recorder or other officer in charge of
elections may establish on-site early voting locations at the office of
the county recorder or at other locations in the county deemed necessary or
appropriate by the recorder. Early voting shall begin within the
time limits prescribed in section 16-542 unless otherwise prescribed by
this section.

D. The county recorder or other officer in charge of
elections shall send by nonforwardable mail that is marked with the statement
required by the postmaster to receive an address correction notification any
early ballots that are requested pursuant to subsections A and B of this
section and shall include a preaddressed envelope for the elector to return the
completed ballot.

E. The county recorder or other officer in charge of
elections shall provide to each election board an appropriate alphabetized list
of voters who have requested and have been sent an early ballot. Any
person who is on that list of voters and who was sent an early ballot shall not
vote at the polling place for that election precinct except as prescribed by
section 16-579, subsection B.

F. The county recorder or other officer in charge of
elections may provide for
any of the following

special election boards
in the same manner prescribed by law
for other elections
.
:

1. Special election boards.

2. Emergency balloting for persons who
experience an emergency after 5:00 p.m. on the Friday preceding the
presidential preference election and before 5:00 p.m. on the Monday immediately
preceding the presidential preference election. Before receiving a
ballot pursuant to this paragraph, a person who experiences an emergency shall
provide identification as prescribed in section 16-579 and shall sign a
statement under penalty of perjury that states that the person is experiencing
or experienced an emergency after 5:00 p.m. on the Friday immediately preceding
the election and before 5:00 p.m. on the Monday immediately preceding the
election that would prevent the person from voting at the
polls. Signed statements received pursuant to this subsection are
not subject to inspection pursuant to title 39, chapter 1, article 2.

G. Notwithstanding section 16-579,
subsection A, paragraph 2, for emergency balloting pursuant to subsection F,
paragraph 2 of this section, the county recorder or other officer in charge of
elections may allow a qualified elector to update the elector's voter
registration information as provided for in the secretary of state's
instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant to section 16-452.

H.

G.
Sections
16-550, 16-551 and 16-552 govern the use of early balloting
for the presidential preference election.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 16-542, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
16-542.

Request for ballot; civil penalties; violation; classification

A. Within ninety-three days before any
election called pursuant to the laws of this state, an elector may make a
verbal or signed request to the county recorder, or other officer in charge of
elections for the applicable political subdivision of this state in whose jurisdiction
the elector is registered to vote, for an official early ballot.� In addition
to name and address, the requesting elector shall provide the date of birth and
state or country of birth or other information that if compared to the voter
registration information on file would confirm the identity of the
elector. If the request indicates that the elector needs a primary
election ballot and a general election ballot, the county recorder or other
officer in charge of elections shall honor the request.� For any partisan
primary election, if the elector is not registered as a member of a political
party that is entitled to continued representation on the ballot pursuant to
section 16-804, the elector shall designate the ballot of only one of the
political parties that is entitled to continued representation on the ballot
and the elector may receive and vote the ballot of only that one political
party, which also shall include any nonpartisan offices and ballot questions,
or the elector shall designate the ballot for nonpartisan offices and ballot
questions only and the elector may receive and vote the ballot that contains
only nonpartisan offices and ballot questions. The county recorder
or other officer in charge of elections shall process any request for an early
ballot for a municipal election pursuant to this subsection. The
county recorder
may

shall
establish
on-site early voting locations at the
county
recorder's
office, which shall be open and available for use beginning the same day that a
county begins to send out the early ballots. The county recorder may
also establish any other early voting locations in the county the
county
recorder deems necessary.
� The early
voting locations, including the locations at the county recorder's office,
shall be open until 7:00 p.m. on the Saturday and Sunday immediately preceding
election day. On the Monday immediately preceding election day, the
early voting locations, including the locations at the county recorder's
office, shall be open until at least 3:00 p.m. and may be open until 7:00 p.m.,
as determined by the county recorder.
Any on-site early
voting location or other early voting location shall require each elector to
present identification as prescribed in section 16-579 before receiving a
ballot.� Notwithstanding section 16-579, subsection A, paragraph 2, at
any on-site early voting location or other early voting location the county
recorder or other officer in charge of elections may provide for a qualified
elector to update the elector's voter registration information as provided for
in the secretary of state's instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant
to section 16-452.

B. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, a
request for an official early ballot from an absent uniformed services voter or
overseas voter as defined in the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee
voting act (P.L. 99-410; 52 United States Code section 20310) or a voter
whose information is protected pursuant to section 16-153 that is
received by the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections more
than ninety-three days before the election is valid. If
requested by the absent uniformed services or overseas voter, or a voter whose
information is protected pursuant to section 16-153, the county recorder
or other officer in charge of elections shall provide to the requesting voter
early ballot materials through the next regularly scheduled general election
for federal office immediately following receipt of the request unless a different
period of time, which does not exceed the next two regularly scheduled general
elections for federal office, is designated by the voter.

C. The county recorder or other officer in charge of
elections shall mail the early ballot and the envelope for its return postage
prepaid to the address provided by the requesting elector within five days
after receipt of the official early ballots from the officer charged by law
with the duty of preparing ballots pursuant to section 16-545, except
that early ballot distribution shall not begin more than twenty-seven days
before the election. If an early ballot request is received on or
before the thirty-first day before the election, the early ballot shall
be distributed not earlier than the twenty-seventh day before the election and
not later than the twenty-fourth day before the election.

D. Only the elector may be in possession of that
elector's unvoted early ballot. If a complete and correct request is
made by the elector within twenty-seven days before the election, the
mailing must be made within forty-eight hours after receipt of the
request. Saturdays, Sundays and other legal holidays are excluded
from the computation of the forty-eight-hour period prescribed by this
subsection.� If a complete and correct request is made by an absent uniformed
services voter or an overseas voter before the election, the regular early
ballot shall be transmitted by mail, by fax or by other electronic format
approved by the secretary of state within twenty-four hours after the
early ballots are delivered pursuant to section 16-545, subsection B,
excluding Sundays.

E. In order to be complete and correct and to
receive an early ballot by mail, an elector's request that an early ballot be
mailed to the elector's residence or temporary address must include all of the
information prescribed by subsection A of this section and must be received by
the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections not later than 5:00
p.m. on the eleventh day preceding the election. An elector who
appears personally not later than 7:00 p.m. on the Friday preceding the
election at an on-site early voting location that is established by the
county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall be given a ballot
after presenting identification as prescribed in section 16-579 and shall
be allowed to vote at the on-site location.� Notwithstanding section 16-579,
subsection A, paragraph 2, at any on-site early voting location the county
recorder or other officer in charge of elections may provide for a qualified
elector to update the elector's voter registration information as provided for
in the secretary of state's instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant
to section 16-452. If an elector's request to receive an early
ballot is not complete and correct but complies with all other requirements of
this section, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall
attempt to notify the elector of the deficiency of the request.

F. Unless an elector specifies that the address to
which an early ballot is to be sent is a temporary address, the
county

recorder may use the information from an early ballot request form to
update voter registration records.

G. The county recorder or other officer in charge of
early balloting shall provide an alphabetized list of all voters in the
precinct who have requested and have been sent an early ballot to the election
board of the precinct in which the voter is registered not later than the day
before the election.

H. As a result of experiencing an
emergency between 7:00 p.m. on the Friday preceding the election and 5:00 p.m.
on the Monday preceding the election, qualified electors may request to vote in
the manner prescribed by the board of supervisors of their respective
county. Before voting pursuant to this subsection, an elector who
experiences an emergency shall provide identification as prescribed in section
16-579 and shall sign a statement under penalty of perjury that states
that the person is experiencing or experienced an emergency after 7:00 p.m. on
the Friday immediately preceding the election and before 5:00 p.m. on the
Monday immediately preceding the election that would prevent the person from
voting at the polls.� Signed statements received pursuant to this subsection
are not subject to inspection pursuant to title 39, chapter 1, article 2.� For
the purposes of this subsection, "emergency" means any unforeseen
circumstances that would prevent the elector from voting at the polls.

I. Notwithstanding section 16-579,
subsection A, paragraph 2, for any voting pursuant to subsection H of this
section, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections may allow
a qualified elector to update the elector's voter registration information as
provided for in the secretary of state's instructions and procedures manual
adopted pursuant to section 16-452.

J.

H.
A
candidate, political committee or other organization may distribute early
ballot request forms to voters. If the early ballot request forms
include a printed address for return, the addressee shall be the political
subdivision that will conduct the election.� Failure to use the political
subdivision as the return addressee is punishable by a civil penalty of up to
three times the cost of the production and distribution of the request.

K.

I.
All
original and completed early ballot request forms that are received by a
candidate, political committee or other organization shall be submitted within
six business days after receipt by a candidate, political committee or other
organization or eleven days before the election day, whichever is earlier, to
the political subdivision that will conduct the election. Any
person, political committee or other organization that fails to submit a
completed early ballot request form within the prescribed time is subject to a
civil penalty of up to $25 per day for each completed form withheld from
submittal. Any person who knowingly fails to submit a completed
early ballot request form before the submission deadline for the election
immediately following the completion of the form is guilty of a class 6 felony.

L.

J.
Except
for a voter who is on the active early voting list prescribed by section 16-544,
a voter who requests a onetime early ballot pursuant to this section or for an
election conducted pursuant to section 16-409 or article 8.1 of this
chapter, a county recorder, city or town clerk or other election officer may
not deliver or mail an early ballot to a person who has not requested an early
ballot for that election.� An election officer who knowingly violates this
subsection is guilty of a class 5 felony.
END_STATUTE