It's Time For Election Conspiracies to Stop
As voters, our needs are simple. We want to get and stay on the voter rolls, cast our private ballots, and know they're accurately counted.
(originally published in CEBV CAN on Dec. 14, 2025)
The very first pair of bills introduced for the 2026 Arizona legislative session are identical cornucopias of anti-voter slop, part of the longstanding effort by "conservative" legislators to make it harder to vote.
SCR1001 and HCR2001 are concurrent resolutions introduced in both the AZ Senate and House. If passed by both chambers of the legislature the measure would bypass the governor and head directly to our 2026 ballots. The governor has repeatedly vetoed similar bills that make it more troublesome to vote and fail to make our elections the least bit more error-free.
(Update: On Jan. 21, 2026, HCR2001 passed the House Federalism, Military Affairs, & Elections Committee on party lines, zipped through the Rules Committee on Jan. 26, and on Feb. 9 passed the full House on party lines. On the floor, the bill was amended to add more nonsensical requirements. SCR1001 passed Senate Judiciary & Elections Committee on Jan. 21 on party lines, flew through the Rules Committee on Jan. 26, and is awaiting a floor vote.)
It’s time for this deceitful and indefensible effort to stop. It’s unclear whether these lawmakers believe their own lies and justifications or are working to feed a false narrative for partisan purposes. Frankly, it doesn’t matter anymore.
One of the proud authors of this mess is Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale), who has thrown his hat in the ring to be our next AZ Secretary of State. Kolodin was disciplined by the Arizona State Bar Association for his role in baseless election conspiracy lawsuits in 2020, and also put on probation by the Bar for filing litigation for the purpose of harassment. The other author is Sen. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix), wife of one of our Supreme Court Justices and author of a 2021 crackpot bill which would have allowed the legislature to throw out the state's entire presidential popular vote and arbitrarily declare a winner.
As voters, our needs are simple. We want to get and stay on the voter rolls, cast our private ballots, and know they're accurately counted. One might rightly ask: who wins by making it more difficult for everyday working people, the elderly, and overtasked Arizonans to cast their votes? My best guess is a reactionary and patrician theory that some people (interpret as you will) don't deserve to vote, a view articulated out loud by Kolodin's Scottsdale seatmate and now-Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh.
A false narrative perpetrated by many Republican leaders is that "the people" want election results faster. For this reason, the bill authors want to eliminate ballot drop-off at voting centers from Friday before an election through election day, a convenience that Maricopa County Elections says is the second most popular way to vote. This preference slows the reporting of results by a few days, but according to recent polling by the Center for the Future of Arizona, 69% of Arizonans prefer convenient ballot drop-off even if it means waiting longer for results.
Several provisions of SCR1001 and HCR2001 simply repeat existing federal and state law, including prohibiting non-citizens from voting (they don’t) and requiring proof of citizenship (we already do). But the other provisions, sure to be wildly unpopular, create enormous hurdles for Arizonans, who have been enjoying convenient access to polling places and vote-by-mail for decades.
The measure would eliminate the Active Early Voter List, though the wording of the bills is unclear and sloppy. This could force voters to request a mail ballot every single general election, an enormous task for election officials as well as for the roughly 80% of Arizona voters who have enjoyed voting by mail since Republicans enacted it in 1991.
Many Arizonans still love the traditional process of casting a vote in person, but a provision in this bill requiring proof of citizenship “concurrent with casting a ballot” would be a misery for voting centers and voters alike. Additional poll workers would be required at significant expense, and voters would be trapped in lengthy lines.
If there’s one thing we know about all Americans, it’s that they hate waiting in line for a routine task. Imagine your grandmother trying to navigate a process every single time that requires her to either request a ballot or stand in an interminable line in person. Imagine your neighbor, who can’t afford to leave work (unpaid) for hours to vote in person. Imagine that your disabled spouse forgot to request a ballot and now has to get to a vote center, wait in line, and painstakingly fill out a long ballot that’s cluttered with asinine ballot measures like this one.
The bills have received widespread condemnation, with one of Arizona’s former top Republican elections officials calling some provisions “a nightmare." We wholeheartedly agree. Though it’s exhausting to have the same ridiculous argument on repeat, it seems some of our state lawmakers insist on it.
Any serious lawmakers would recognize that our elections will be faster, safer, and easier if they simply provide the requested and necessary funds to county elections officials and the Secretary of State’s office to properly staff, strengthen technological support and security, and accomplish their jobs.
SCR1001/HCR2001 is a one-page monstrosity of poorly defined logistics and unnecessary requirements based on false assumptions and little understanding of how elections actually work. Two profoundly unserious lawmakers have once again tried to foist their entirely misguided fantasies on Arizona voters. I for one am thoroughly tired of humoring conspiracy-mongers as if logic will make a dent.
Just stop.
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