Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18, 2025

CONTACT: press@securedemocracyusa.org

Arizona Voters Overwhelmingly Agree With Gov. Hobbs on Ballot Return Deadline Bill

This morning Governor Katie Hobbs issued her first veto of 2025, rejecting HB 2703 which would have moved up the ballot return deadline for Arizona voters. Secure Democracy USA, a nonpartisan organization committed to strengthening state election policy, worked with Noble Predictive Insights to test Arizona voters’ views on this issue. This question was part of Noble’s latest AZPOP poll, which will be released later this month.

Solidly two-thirds of Arizona voters want to keep the mail ballot return deadline as-is. When presented with the trade-off of shortening the ballot return deadline from 7 p.m. on Election Day to the Friday before Election Day to potentially get faster election results, as some have proposed, fully two-thirds (66%) of Arizona voters want to keep the ballot return deadline as-is. Only one-quarter (25%) of voters surveyed support moving the deadline to the Friday before Election Day, and only 10% of voters surveyed were unsure. 

Support for protecting Arizona voters’ current ballot return flexibility spans across geographic, gender, and political lines of difference:

  • 65% support from voters in Maricopa County, 72% in Pima County, and 64% in rural counties;

  • 63% support among Republicans, 74% among Democrats, and 61% among Independents; and

  • 68% support among men, 64% among women.

Noble Predictive Insights surveyed 935 likely Arizona voters from February 10-13, 2025. The survey has an overall margin of sampling error of  +/- 3.2%. 

The question was worded as followed: Currently, Arizona voters can drop off early ballots at any voting location until 7 p.m. on Election Day. Some lawmakers want to require early ballots to be returned four days earlier, the Friday before Election Day. Supporters of this change say it could potentially lead to faster election results. Opponents of this change say all voters should be able to return their ballots until Election Day ends and there are other ways to achieve faster election results. Which would you prefer? [66% - Continue to require voters to return their ballots by 7 pm on Election Day. | 25% - Change the law to require voters to return their ballots by the Friday before Election Day. | 10% - Not sure.]

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Secure Democracy USA is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization building stronger elections, state by state. We advocate for practical election policy solutions guided by research and supported across the ideological spectrum.