After a groundbreaking increase in voter turnout, elected officials are introducing new bills that will make it harder for people to vote. As if voting in 2020 was not hard enough due to the pandemic, protests, climate change, etc., these new bills would certainly decrease the voter turnout significantly. 

Below are some of the bills that are being introduced in Arizona:

  • SB 1593 would shorten the early voting from 27 days to 22 and require a postmark by the Thursday before election day
  • SB 1713 which would require voters to add more personal information such as their driver’s license number instead of just a signature when mailing in their early ballots. 
  • SB 1010 would allow anyone to order a recount of an election if they pay for it
  • HCR 2001 would ask voters to limit initiatives in Arizona to a single subject or be invalidated. 

With what happened during the 2020 presidential election, lawmakers are trying to push these bills to ensure our voices are not heard. To fight against these bills, ASA is doing everything possible to make sure our voices are not silenced. One of the tactics ASA includes working with the NAU Votes! Coalition to raise more awareness about these bills and what we can do to combat them. 

“We are working on letters to the editor and helping the broader coalition with phone calls to voters who would be affected by the PEVL purge. The idea is to raise awareness around these bad bills that make it harder to vote, and to get constituents to call their representatives about these bills,” said Kyle Nitschke, Organizing Director of ASA. 

In addition to this, ASA is training new fellows on strategies such as how to Request To Speak (RTS). Also phone banking legislators, placing yard and street signs in the neighborhoods and districts of legislators. These are all important steps ASA is taking to disrupt these bad bills and build a group of young leaders that will someday go on and obtain a seat in our government.

For those who are not trained on how bills work, you can still do something that can help stop these bills from getting passed. 

“The active way and the biggest thing voters can do that are trained is to seek to understand and connect with organizations already doing the work. If their passion lies in environmental protections, then they should join in an organization in that wheel house such as Sierra Club, Chispa, etc. The best way to help stop bad bills is to get involved,” said Patrick Morales, ASA’s legislative director.


-Anna Deogratias, ASA Communication Fellow