In an effort to improve Arizona’s elections, Gov. Katie Hobbs is taking several steps going into the 2024 election year, including an executive order to authorize paid civic duty leave for state employees to serve as poll workers, according to a news release Thursday from the governor’s office.
The other two executive orders issued by Hobbs are making state buildings available as polling locations and requiring state agencies to provide voter registration information and assistance.
As Secretary of State I oversaw the most secure elections in Arizona history, but I know we must continue to improve Arizonas elections ahead of 2024, said Hobbs said in the release. Election officials and voters are facing new challenges when it comes to administering elections and participating in our democracy. I am thrilled to immediately address some of the problems identified by the Bipartisan Elections Task Force to ensure Arizona voters can make their voices heard.
Hobbs also announced $2.3 million in American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funding to support free, fair and secure elections. The funds will support a variety of election-related measures critical to free, fair, and secure elections in 2024, including $1M for a statewide elections fellowship program as well as temporary staffing support and expert consultants for counties, particularly those that have lost institutional knowledge and expertise due to staff turnover. The funds will also provide critical $700,000 needed to maintain AVID, the statewide voter registration database, and $600,000 for other 2024 election administration initiatives, including county-level election security, election security tabletop exercises for state and county officials, ballot reconciliation best practices, resources for county officials to better support voters with disabilities, and poll worker recruitment and emergency poll worker deployment efforts.