PULLEN: It’s Time For Arizonans To Pass One Key Measure On The Ballot This Election Day

PULLEN: It’s Time For Arizonans To Pass One Key Measure On The Ballot This Election Day

Randy Pullen on November 4, 2022

In Arizona, as in many other states, voter identification must be provided at polling locations to get a ballot to vote. A photo ID or two forms of non-photo ID are required (A.R.S. 16-579). This is not the case for ballot-by-mail whether mailed or dropped off.

The only requirement is your signature on the envelope (A,R.S. 16-547). Signature matching is an outdated way to verify someone’s identity. It simply makes no sense compared to photo IDs. Voters’ signatures change over a lifetime and are difficult to match to the voter rolls. What happens to the voter who has a broken hand or finger?

Arizona voters have an opportunity to correct some of the problems with ballot-by-mail and election day voting. Proposition 309 will enhance confidence in our ability to count votes in a fair and transparent way.

Vote “YES” for Arizona Proposition 309 on the Nov. 8 election ballot. If passed the law will require voters to write their birth date, a state-issued identification number or the last four digits of the voter’s social security number, and signature on an early ballot affidavit.

It will also require certain photo identification issued by the state of Arizona, or a tribal government or the United States government, to receive a ballot at an in-person voting location. The Arizona Department of Transportation will be required to provide, without charge, a nonoperating identification license to individuals who request one for the purpose of voting.

Proposition 309 has been supported by a broad range of Republican elected officials in Arizona and by Heritage Action for America, The Goldwater Institute and Arizona Free Enterprise Club.

Voter photo identification is popular and has been easy to implement in Arizona and around the country. A recent poll late last month by the Honest Elections Project showed that over 83% of Americans support requiring photo ID to vote. This was true for 75% of Blacks, 81% of Hispanics, and 88% of Asians.

Democrats in Arizona and nationally are constantly saying Proposition 309 is a form of voter suppression and supported by “election deniers.” This is simply not true.

Democrats deny elections all the time. Hillary Clinton denied Trump won the 2016 presidential election.

There are many more example of Democrats denying election results. The goal is to make sure Ballot-by-Mail voting uses the same procedures for voter identification that is used with in person voting.

Tightening up these procedures will create confidence that Arizona’s voting system is fair and secure. A vote “YES” will make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.

There’s growing evidence that more people will vote when they know there are fair, secure, and transparent elections. The 2020 election highlighted problems with the administration of our elections.

It’s time to fix it. Arizona counties are not going to do this unless they are forced to by the voters. Send them a message that voter identification for mail in ballots is consistent and fair with what in person voters already do.

There can’t be a difference between in person voting and mail in balloting.

Randy Pullen is a CPA licensed in Arizona and California. He was the Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party from 2007 to 2011 and Treasurer of the Republican National Committee from 2009 to 2011. He served as the Arizona Senate Liaison on the 2020 Maricopa County election audit.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.