Arizona Audit Recommends Universal Voter ID—Just Like We’ve Been Saying for Years

Easy to vote and hard to cheat. That should be the benchmark for every single election we have.

Voters should not have to choose between having a secure election or having an accessible election. They can have both. And in Arizona, we’ve certainly made our elections accessible.

But that hasn’t always been the case with the security of our elections. And the results of the Arizona audit issued in September show just that.

• • 5,047 people voted in more than one county.
  • Just under 28,000 ballots were possibly cast by voters who had moved prior to the election.
  • More than 17,000 Early Voting Ballots were duplicates.

These are significant issues that need to be addressed. Thankfully, the audit report made multiple recommendations that are common-sense election integrity policies.

And the most important one is something we’ve been saying for years:

Mail-in voting should incorporate an objective standard of verification for early voter identification, similar to the ID requirements required for in person voting.

Yes. The Arizona audit recommended instituting universal ID. And that’s why right now is the perfect time for the Arizonans for Voter ID Act.

 This initiative for the November 2022 ballot would:

• • Improve existing in-person voter ID.
  • Establish voter ID for mail-in ballots.
  • Deter ballot harvesting by enhancing voter ID requirements.
  • Provide a FREE voter ID option to lawfully registered Arizona voters who need it for voting.

Think about what this would mean for future elections. For one, we would no longer need to rely on a highly subjective process to verify signatures, which can often lead to illegal votes being counted and legal votes not being counted.

In addition, this initiative would make it nearly impossible for someone to vote in our state after they had moved.

And to top it all off, requiring universal voter ID would not be cumbersome.

The people of Arizona already provide basic identification in their daily lives to purchase alcohol or cigarettes, obtain a driver’s license, board a commercial flight, donate blood, open a bank account, purchase a firearm, receive unemployment benefits, obtain auto insurance, purchase or rent a home, and more.

It’s commonsense that we should we require the same for something as important as voting in an election. Thankfully, most Arizonans agree.

Statewide polling from earlier this year shows that an overwhelming majority of Arizona voters support voter ID requirements. In fact, every race and ethnicity support voter ID, along with the majority of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats.

Now, the audit’s recommendation makes it clear. It’s time for universal voter ID in Arizona. It would ensure that our elections are still easy to vote in while making it that much harder to cheat. And that’s something every single resident in Arizona should be able to get behind.

You Can Make a Difference

Elections should be both accessible and secure. That’s why universal voter ID is so important. We must protect the ballot of every qualified Arizona voter and ensure the integrity of our elections.

Find out more about this initiative and what YOU can do to ensure it makes it onto the November 2022 ballot.