Katie Hobbs has vetoed another bill that would designate the Secretary of State’s July 2020 Signature Verification Guide as the minimum requirement for the comparison of signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes.
State Rep. Alexander Kolodin’s HB2322 added language to the existing law, stating, “THE SECRETARY OF STATE’S JULY 2020 SIGNATURE VERIFICATION GUIDE CONSTITUTES THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPARISON OF SIGNATURES. SIGNATURES THAT CANNOT BE VERIFIED SHALL BE REJECTED EXCEPT AS PRESCRIBED IN SUBSECTION A OF THIS SECTION.”
As Secretary of State in 2020, Katie Hobbs wrote these standards into the 2020 Election Procedures Manual.
After vetoing a bill to add minimum standards that she wrote herself, one can only assume that Katie Hobbs wants to weaken standards for election security.
The bill passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support and was transmitted to Katie Hobbs’ office on Tuesday.
“The signature verification rules included in this legislation helps ensure that only ballots cast by lawful voters are counted,” said Representative Kolodin in a statement Wednesday before Hobbs’ veto. “These are the same rules that were written by Governor Hobbs when she was the Secretary of State. I appreciate the Arizona Association of Counties, Secretary Fontes, and my colleagues across the aisle, for working with me on this bill as it moved through the legislative process and for their admirable commitment to commonsense election reform.”