Arizona Voters’ Agenda: Voters Want Accessible and Secure Voting - Do Not Want to Eliminate Vote by Mail Big Question for Candidates: “What should Arizona do to keep our elections secure while preventing barriers to participation?”

Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) today released findings on election reform as part of their ongoing reveal of the Arizona Voters’ Agenda, which identifies what likely voters in the general election want to hear about from candidates as they campaign for their votes.

While Arizona was the focus of the well-covered audit of the 2020 General Election, as well as a lot of discussions regarding election security, the new survey findings demonstrate voters would be supportive of straightforward reforms that balance security with accessibility and fairness.

“The Arizona Voters’ Agenda is a data-driven look at the issues likely Arizona voters across every partisan segment and age group agree and prioritize for the upcoming elections. The growing gap between the election reform priorities of policymakers and the views of Arizona voters is astounding,” said Dr. Sybil Francis, President & CEO of CFA. “As voters decide whom to support, they deserve a robust discussion about what we need to do to keep our election system aligned with what Arizonans want.”

A sizeable 87% of all likely voters supported the statement, “We can do more to secure our elections system and protect it from outside interference and fraudulent voting. At the same time, we must make sure that it remains easy to vote – and not create barriers to participation that disproportionately hurt certain communities.”

Voters expressed broad support for continuing early in-person voting. In fact, 74% of likely voters support a policy priority of “Offering early in-person voting over multiple weeks leading up to Election Day,” including 60% Republicans, 75% independents/unaffiliated, and 93% Democrats.

In contrast, likely Arizona voters do not favor eliminating mail-in voting. When asked whether they support or oppose the policy position, “Eliminating mail-in voting in Arizona except for certain predetermined exceptions,” only 36% of all likely voters support the statement. On the other hand, 62% of likely voters opposed eliminating the option for mail-in ballots.

“Banning mail-in ballots is not popular and is strongly opposed by a large majority of the electorate. Tampering with our long-established successful practices of early in-person and mail-in voting, on which Arizona voters count to make their voices heard and their votes matter, is in direct opposition to what Arizona voters want,” concluded Dr. Francis. “We need a system in which every voter has a chance to be heard and their vote counted and one that rewards candidates for being responsive to the will of the voters.”

Another top election issue on the Arizona Voters’ Agenda is “Ensuring that all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, have the same signature requirements to qualify for a particular elected office,” a topic that is supported by 87% of likely voters, including 92% among Republicans, 85% independents/unaffiliated, and 82% Democrats. Currently, candidates for partisan offices have different signature requirements based on their party registrations. Independent and unaffiliated voters can be required to gather about six times the number of signatures compared to their partisan counterparts – an issue that creates a barrier to participation.

To be included on the Arizona Voters’ Agenda, a majority of all likely voters must “strongly support” the issue, and majorities of every political and age segment must “strongly or somewhat” support the issue. This ensures the Agenda reflects the support that cuts across age and party lines, making the topics essential to the Primary and General Elections.

While voters want to maintain and improve the security and fairness of our elections, most do not believe there was significant voter fraud that compromised the integrity of the 2020 General Election. This is consistent with multiple investigations and reports concluding that claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election are unsubstantiated.

Regarding election reform, the Arizona Voters’ Agenda points to essential questions for moderators, citizens, voters, and others to ask candidates as they are competing for votes. Begin with at least one big question based on the data showing where Arizonans have a strong agreement: “What should Arizona do to keep our elections secure while preventing barriers to participation?”

About the Arizona Voters’ Agenda

CFA is focused on bringing Arizonans together around a positive agenda based on where they agree on priorities to move the state forward and realize The Arizona We Want. The Arizona Voters’ Agenda was launched as an extension of CFA’s survey research efforts to identify and create The Arizona We Want.

CFA has analyzed the statewide survey data to determine which issues make the cut for the Arizona Voters’ Agenda based on:

• a primary threshold, the number of likely voters that “strongly agree/support” is 50% and above,
• and a second threshold of the sum of “somewhat agree/support” and “strongly agree/support” (i.e., Total Support/Agree) is 50% and above among every political party (Republican, Independent/Undecided/Other, and Democrat) and age group (20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-64, 65+).

The Arizona Voters’ Agenda – Election Reform

Political and age group breakdowns are available at ArizonaFuture.org/ArizonaVotersAgenda.

About the Survey
The N=500 survey was conducted among likely voters from April 12 through 19, 2022. The poll surveyed likely Arizona 2022 General Election voters who have a history of electoral participation and was balanced to model the likely turnout of voters across party, age, region, and gender. The live interview survey of voters was conducted in English and Spanish by HighGround Public Affairs to landline and cell phone users. Based on previous midterm election trends, the partisan advantage was set at +8% GOP. The margin of error is ±4.3%.

Survey Demographics

The Arizona Voters’ Agenda initiative is supported in part by Arizona Community Foundation, Helios Education Foundation, Pharos Foundation, Rodel Foundation of Arizona, Thomas R. Brown Family Foundation, and Southern Arizona Leadership Council. CFA also coordinated with Education Forward Arizona, who conducted an additional poll to gain deeper insights into likely Arizona voters’ priorities on education. The findings are available at educationforwardarizona.org.

About Center for the Future of Arizona
Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that brings Arizonans together to create a stronger and brighter future for our state. All of CFA’s work is to ensure that the public values Arizonans share are realized for all by shaping and advancing The Arizona We Want–a shared vision of success where all Arizonans, now and in the future, thrive and enjoy sustained prosperity, unmatched quality of life, and real opportunity. Learn more at arizonafuture.org.