Arizona amendment would require ID for mail ballots

What the amendment would do

The proposed Arizona constitutional amendment would make government-issued identification a condition for casting a ballot. The requirement would cover ballots submitted by mail as well as voting conducted in person.

For mail voters, the central change is that identification would be required even when a voter does not appear at a voting location. A mail ballot would therefore have to be paired with a process for establishing the voter’s government-issued identification.

Placing the requirement in the Arizona Constitution would make it a constitutional rule rather than an ordinary election policy. State election laws, administrative procedures and instructions for voters would have to comply with that constitutional requirement. Future changes also would have to account for the constitutional language.

The proposal concerns election administration across Arizona. It is not tied to a candidate, political party or individual race.

Details that will shape implementation

The amendment’s wording will determine the scope of the identification requirement. Key details include which government-issued documents qualify and how a mail voter would submit or verify identification without appearing in person.

Implementation procedures would also need to address ballots returned without the required identification or with information that cannot be verified. Rules governing voter notification, opportunities to correct an identification problem, deadlines and ballot handling would determine how the requirement operates in practice.

Mail-ballot procedures also would need to explain how identification information is transmitted, reviewed and protected. Official voter instructions would be important because the proposal would add an identification step to casting a ballot by mail, not only to voting at a polling place.