SB1569 • 2026

special election boards; voter registration

SB1569 - special election boards; voter registration

Elections Labor

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Jake Hoffman
Last action: 2026-03-03
Official status: Senate committee of the whole
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official text states the bill becomes effective on the 'general effective date' but does not list a specific calendar day in this document.

Rules for Special Election Boards and Voter Registration

This law allows special election board members to fix voter information only for the specific person they are assigned to help, while stopping them from registering new voters or changing records for anyone else at that location.

What This Bill Does

Allows special election board members to update necessary voter registration details for the specific qualified elector they are assigned to assist so the voter gets the correct ballot.
Prohibits these workers from collecting, processing, or helping with new voter registrations while acting on behalf of elections officials.
Stops workers from changing existing voter registration information for any other person at the same facility or location who is not their assigned patient.

Who It Names or Affects

Members of special election boards appointed by county recorders
Qualified electors who are confined due to illness or disability and receive ballots in person

Terms To Know

Special Election Board: A team of two people sent to deliver a ballot in person to a voter who is too sick or disabled to go to the polls.
Qualified Elector: A citizen who meets legal requirements and is eligible to vote, including those confined by illness or disability.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill becomes effective on the general effective date set for laws passed in this session.
These rules apply only while board members are acting for elections officials at a facility where they deliver ballots.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

SENATE - Hoffman flr amend (ref Bill) adopted (Adopted)

Adopted

Plain English: This amendment allows special election board workers to fix voter registration details for the specific sick or disabled voters they are helping, while strictly forbidding them from registering new voters or changing records for anyone else at that location.

Special election board members can now update necessary voter information only for the qualified electors assigned to their care to ensure correct ballots.
Workers on these boards are prohibited from collecting, processing, or helping with any new voter registrations while working at a facility.
Members cannot change existing voter registration records for anyone other than the specific voters they were sent to assist.

The text does not define exactly which types of information updates are considered 'necessary' beyond ensuring correct ballots.
It is unclear if there are any exceptions allowed in emergency situations where a voter's registration might be completely missing rather than just needing an update.

Bill History

2026-03-03 Senate
Senate committee of the whole
2026-02-23 Senate
Senate minority caucus
2026-02-23 Senate
Senate majority caucus
2026-02-23 Senate
Senate consent calendar
2026-02-04 Senate
Senate second read
2026-02-03 Senate
Senate Rules: PFC
2026-02-03 Senate
Senate Judiciary and Elections: DP
2026-02-03 Senate
Senate first read

Official Summary Text

SB1569 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet

Assigned to
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PASSED BY COW

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session

AMENDED

FACT SHEET FOR
S.B. 1569

special election boards; voter registration

Purpose

Prohibits special election board members from collecting, processing or
otherwise facilitating a new voter registration, or changing
an existing voter registration for any other person the
special election board worker is not assigned to assist,
while acting for,
or on behalf of, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections.

Background

A county recorder or other officer in charge of elections may appoint any
number of special election boards to facilitate voting for a qualified elector
who is confined because of an illness or disability and therefore not able to
go to the polls on the day of the election and who does not wish to vote by
mailed early ballot. The qualified elector may make a verbal or signed written
request to the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections to have
a ballot personally delivered to the elector by a special election board at the
elector's place of confinement. For a partisan election, each special election
board must consist of two members, one from each of the two political parties
who cast the highest number of votes in the state in the last preceding general
election. For a nonpartisan election, each special election board must consist
of two members with different political affiliations. A person who is a
candidate for an office in an election is not eligible to serve on a special
election board for that election (
A.R.S.
� 16-549
;
EPM
Ch. 2 (IV)(A)
).

There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund
associated with this legislation.

Provisions

Prohibits
special election board members from collecting, processing or otherwise
facilitating a new voter registration, or changing an existing voter
registration for any other person the special election board worker is not
assigned to assist, while acting for, or on behalf of, the county recorder or
other officer in charge of elections.

Allows
a special election board member to update any necessary voter registration
information for the qualified electors that the special election board is
assigned to assist in order to ensure that the elector's voter registration
information is correct.

Makes
technical changes.

Becomes
effective on the general effective date.

Amendments Adopted by
Committee of the Whole

Allows a special election board worker to update necessary voter
registration information for the qualified electors that the special election
board worker is assigned to assist, in order to ensure that a qualified
elector's voter registration information is correct and that the qualified
elector receives the correct ballot.

Prohibits special election board workers from changing existing voter
registrations for any other person at the facility or location.

Senate Action

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Prepared by Senate Research

March 3, 2026

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Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB1569 - 572R - S Ver

Senate Engrossed

special election
boards; voter registration

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SENATE BILL 1569

AN
ACT

amending section 16-549, Arizona Revised Statutes;
relating to the conduct of elections.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

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

Section 1. Section 16-549, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
16-549.

Special election boards; expenses; voting procedure for ill
electors or electors with disabilities

A. The county recorder or other officer in charge of
elections, for the purpose of making it possible for qualified electors who are
ill or have a disability to vote, may appoint such number of special election
boards as needed. In a partisan election, each such board shall
consist of two members, one from each of the two political parties that cast
the highest number of votes in the state in the last preceding general
election. The county chairman of each such party shall furnish,
within sixty days before the election day, the county recorder or other officer
in charge of elections with a list of names of qualified electors within the
chairman's political party, and such additional lists as may be required, from
which the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall appoint
members to such special election boards. The county recorder or
other officer in charge of elections may refuse for cause to appoint or may for
cause remove a member of this board. A person who is a candidate for
an office other than precinct committeeman is not eligible to serve on the
special election board for that election.

B. Members of special election boards appointed
under this section shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in the manner
provided by law and shall also receive such compensation as the board of
supervisors or the governing body prescribes, all of which shall be paid by the
county or other political subdivision.

C. In lieu of the mailed early ballot procedure, any
qualified elector who is confined as the result of a continuing illness or physical
disability and is, therefore, not able to go to the polls on the day of the
next election and who does not wish to vote by the mailed early ballot
procedure
,
may make a verbal or a signed written
request to the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections to have
a ballot personally delivered to the elector by the special election board at
the elector's place of confinement within the county or other political
subdivision. The ballot shall be delivered to the elector in person
by a special election board as provided in this section. Such
requests must be made by 5:00 p.m. on the second Friday before the election.

D. Qualified electors who become ill or become a
person with a disability after the second Friday before the election may
nevertheless request personal ballot delivery pursuant to this section, and the
county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall when possible
honor such requests up to and including the last day before the election.
Qualified electors who are admitted to a hospital after 5:00 p.m. on the second
Friday preceding the election and before 5:00 p.m. on election day may request the
county recorder or other officer in charge of elections to provide a special
election board with a ballot at the elector's place of
confinement. If the county recorder or other officer in charge of
elections is able to accommodate the request, the voted ballot of the elector
shall be sealed in an envelope and shall be processed as a provisional ballot
pursuant to section 16-584. Before receiving a ballot pursuant to this
subsection, a qualified elector 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 second Friday 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.

E. The manner and procedure of voting shall be as
provided in section 16-548, except that the marked ballot in the sealed
envelope shall be handed by the elector to the special election board and shall
be delivered by the board to the county recorder or other officer in charge of
elections.

F.
In order to
ensure that a qualified elector's voter registration information is correct and
that the qualified elector RECEIVES the correct ballot, A special election
board member
may update any necessary voter registration
INFORMATION for the QUALIFIED electors that the special election board is
assigned to assist. A special election board member shall not
collect, process or otherwise facilitate a
new voter
registration
or change an existing voter registration for
any other person at that facility or location while acting for or on behalf of
the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections.
END_STATUTE