Hobbs issues executive orders, allocates $2.3M in COVID-19 relief funding for Arizona elections

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Thursday announced three new executive orders aimed to make voting easier, and $2.3 million in coronavirus relief funding as a down payment toward changes recommended by her elections task force.

The funding comes from Arizona's share of the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal coronavirus relief package. It will fund an elections fellowship program to train and recruit election workers, and provide temporary staffing for counties ahead of next year's election. The funds will help maintain the state's voter registration database, pay for security and poll worker recruitment, and support other election initiatives.

The governor's executive orders give Arizonans more opportunities to register to vote, make state facilities available as voting locations, and allow state employees to work the polls on election days while still collecting their paychecks. Two of those orders make permanent changes implemented by former Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, during the 2020 election cycle to accommodate the coronavirus pandemic and adequately staff polling locations.

The actions were recommended by Hobbs' elections task force, which last week made public its recommendations to improve elections. Hobbs, a Democrat who previously served as secretary of state and Arizona's elections chief, created the task force in January just after she was sworn in as governor.

"As Secretary of State I oversaw the most secure elections in Arizona history, but I know we must continue to improve Arizona’s elections ahead of 2024,” Hobbs said in a statement. “Election officials and voters are facing new challenges when it comes to administering elections and participating in our democracy."

One executive order allows state employees to take paid leave to work at polls during a statewide election beginning as soon as the March presidential preference election. It directs the Arizona Department of Administration, the state workforce's human resources department, to make rules expanding what is formally called civic duty leave, which permits employees to be paid if they go to vote or serve as jurors.

Another executive order allows state buildings to be used as polling places or ballot drop-off sites in any statewide election, just as Ducey did via his own executive order for the 2020 primary and general elections. Ducey cited the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration as the authority for doing so.

The third executive order expands the number of state agencies that will provide voter registration information to the public, including digital and printed registration forms. The order prevents those agencies and their staff from providing voter registration information "in any manner that is not impartial or neutral."

Three agencies are already offering voter registration assistance because of requirements of the National Voter Registration Act, which says state agencies that provide public assistance or serve people with disabilities should help residents register to vote. The act, which was signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton in 1993, also allows states to designate other voter registration agencies.

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat and a member of Hobbs' task force, called the governor's actions "critical in building towards smooth and successful elections in 2024."

Hobbs has issued 25 executive orders in her first 10 months as governor, including her trio signed Thursday that put into immediate action recommendations of the task force. The 18-member bipartisan task force issued its final, 69-page report on Wednesday, outlining sweeping recommendations that go beyond Hobbs’ actions on Thursday.

The one-time funding from the American Rescue Plan Act will help shore up systems and staffing ahead of the 2024 elections. But the $700,000 Hobbs earmarked to maintain the statewide voter registration database skirts around a problem identified by the task force: The system needs a reliable source of funding each year. The task force recommended the state should fund that maintenance at a cost of $1.3 million annually, which will likely be difficult given state revenue forecasts that predict the state's bank accounts in the red next year.

Some of the thornier task force recommendations, namely those that would require the Legislature to act, remain on the to-do list. Those include amending the state's recount law to prevent delays in election results, restoring voting rights to felons as soon as they have finished their sentences, and protecting voters who use ballot drop boxes.

Those proposals are likely to meet headwinds in the GOP-controlled Legislature, where many lawmakers in the majority party have championed efforts to restrict ballot access or cast doubt upon election results.

Rough ride ahead: GOP lawmakers skeptical as Arizona election changes win support from Gov. Hobbs panel

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hobbs seeks Arizona elections boost with executive orders, more funds