PHOENIX — State lawmakers voted Thursday to fix election laws to keep voters from being disenfranchised.
The House voted 56-2 margin for a delicately crafted compromise between Republican legislators and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. The Senate followed suit moments later with a 28-2 vote.
Gov. Katie Hobbs said she will sign the measure Friday.
That action comes none too soon. Jennifer Marson, executive director of the Arizona Association of Counties, warned lawmakers they had only through this week to change the date of the 2024 primary. The legislation moves it up a week, to July 31.
All that is designed to deal with the fact that a 2022 change in state law sets up a situation where more races are going to be subject to a recount. And Marson said that delay in getting final results from the primary would have left insufficient time to prepare, send and receive the ballots from overseas voters, including Arizonans serving in the military.
What also needed to be resolved is tightening up the schedule for what happens after the Nov. 5 General Election.