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Committee advances bill to require disclaimers on non-government election mailers
Summary
House Bill 2006 would require non-government entities that distribute documents resembling official election material to place a bold disclaimer reading "Not from a government agency" on the outside of the envelope; the committee approved the measure 5–2.
The committee recommended House Bill 2006 by a vote of 5–2. The bill would require any nongovernmental person or entity distributing an official-looking election-related document — or a document resembling an official election document — to include the words "not from a government agency" in bold, clearly legible print on the outside of the envelope.
County representatives said the measure responds to repeated instances where private mailings mimicked county mailers, generating calls to county recorders and creating burdens from out-of-date or erroneous mailing lists. Jen Morrison of the Arizona Association of Counties described examples and said counties received many constituent queries after private groups sent materials that looked official.
Some members raised First Amendment concerns during discussion of prior, stricter drafts. The current version contains no civil-penalty enforcement language; supporters said the measure is a consumer-protection-style disclosure intended to reduce voter confusion. After discussion, the committee voted 5 ayes and 2 nays to advance the bill.
