Grand Canyon Times

The Arizona Senate has passed legislation aimed at addressing the shortage of election officers in the state. The bill, known as SB 1319 and sponsored by Senator Tim Dunn, proposes a six-month training window for election officer certification in even-numbered years. This initiative received strong bipartisan support and is now being sent to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

Under current law, individuals can perform duties as an election officer, clerk of the board of supervisors, or county recorder if they hold an election officer's certificate issued by the Secretary of State before January 1 of each general election year. SB 1319 seeks to amend this by allowing certification until June 1 instead.

Senator Dunn emphasized the importance of proper training and certification for election officials: "We need to ensure that our election officials are properly trained and certified," he stated. He further expressed optimism about the bill's potential impact on improving and securing Arizona's election process: "This bill allows certification for the first six months of an election year instead of in odd years only. When we pursue commonsense solutions, bipartisan election policy is possible, and we can improve and secure the election process for all Arizonans."

Dunn also commended his colleagues across both chambers for their collaboration on this legislative effort: "I applaud my colleagues in both chambers for coming together and seeing value in this legislation. I'm optimistic this bill will make its way to the governor's desk for signature."