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Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed 48% of election bills passed in 2026 session

By

Andrew Bahl

On June 13, the Arizona Legislature adjourned its 2026 session after passing 21 election-related bills and one constitutional amendment. Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) signed 11 of the bills and vetoed 10.

Among the bills Hobbs vetoed was HB 4115, which would have required a paid petition circulator to disclose to a potential petition signer their state of residence and that they were a paid circulator, and wear a badge disclosing the same information. The bill would have made Arizona the fifth state with a badge requirement for paid petition circulators.

The Arizona House of Representatives approved HB 4115 32-24 on March 3, with 32 Republicans voting in favor and 24 Democrats voting against. The Arizona Senate then approved the bill 16-13 on March 9, with 16 Republicans voting in favor and 13 Democrats voting against. Hobbs vetoed the bill on March 12.

The other bills Hobbs vetoed included:

  • SB 1037, which would have prohibited any voting equipment used in a polling place or voting center from having internet access and access to any aggregated data or results, and made other changes to voting equipment requirements.
  • SB 1040, which would have required the county recorder to provide access to voter registration rolls via an internet portal that is publicly accessible and allows the information to be downloaded at no cost.
  • SB 1060, which would have removed a provision permitting any U.S. citizen who has never resided in the country and whose parent was a registered voter in Arizona and a U.S. citizen to register to vote and vote using a federal write-in early ballot.
  • SB 1186, which would have required current or prospective state contractors to disclose anything of value that they had provided to a gubernatorial campaign during the previous five years.
  • SB 1237, which would have added county recorders and the chairpersons and ranking members of the House of Representatives and Senate committees with jurisdiction over election matters to the list of public officials that the secretary of state must consult before prescribing rules for the elections instructions and procedures manual.

As of August 2026, Hobbs had vetoed more election bills than any other governor in the country this year. Hobbs vetoed 29 election bills in 2025, seven in 2024, and 21 in 2023.

The 11 bills Hobbs signed included HB 2022, which moved the state’s primary election date to the second-to-last Tuesday in July. Previously, primaries occurred on the first Tuesday in August. 

HB 2022 passed on a 56-0 vote in the state House on Feb. 2, with 31 Republicans and 25 Democrats voting in favor. It passed the state Senate 27-1 on Feb. 5, with 16 Republicans and 11 Democrats voting in favor and one Democrat voting against. Hobbs signed the bill on Feb. 6.

This is the second time in recent years that Arizona has moved its primary election date. In 2024, Hobbs signed a law moving up that year’s primary by a week to July 30.

Among the other bills Hobbs signed were:

  • HB 2327, which allows eligible individuals to request that the public be prevented from accessing county recorder data that may directly or indirectly identify them, and lists the information that could be excluded.
  • HB 2874, which amends the procedures for terminating a campaign committee.
  • SB 1029, which establishes that, upon a candidate’s death, the candidate’s committee is deemed to have the intention to terminate the committee.
  • SB 1133, which establishes that a current statewide officer or legislator who has filed a financial disclosure statement for that year as required for their position is deemed to have complied with the candidate requirement to file a financial disclosure statement.
  • SB 1259, which allows an alternative mailing address to be listed on a financial disclosure or campaign committee statement of organization if the person’s residential address is protected from public disclosure.

Legislators also enacted HCR 2001, a proposed constitutional amendment that would require individuals to be United States citizens to vote in Arizona elections, prohibit foreign individuals or corporations from making campaign contributions to Arizona candidates or ballot measures, require voters to opt in to receive mail ballots, and require all voters to provide an acceptable government-issued identification in order to vote. The amendment will be submitted to voters in the Nov. 3, 2026, election.

Arizona enacted eight election bills in 2025, enacted and approved 10 bills and constitutional amendments in 2024, and enacted and approved four bills and constitutional amendments in 2023.