The Arizona Senate Republicans issued a three-part agenda for the 2025 legislative session last week.

The first item, or “pillar,” is securing the border. The second pillar is “Preserving the American Dream in Arizona,” and the third, “Embracing Federalism and State Sovereignty,” includes securing elections.

State Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff), who chairs the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee, told The Arizona Sun Times that election integrity will be a priority despite Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs.

“We do not fear the veto pen,” she said. “We at the Arizona Legislature will work very hard to come up with solutions to get our votes tallied and results known by election night. We have conferred with other states like Florida for best practices. We invite the governor to join us in restoring Arizona‘s faith in our elections.“

Rogers has a hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 3 p.m., which includes consideration of SB 1011. Sponsored by Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa), the bill would eliminate much of the delay in counting ballots by ending the practice of setting up emergency voting centers at the last minute before elections and voters who return their early ballots to early voting locations after 7 p.m. the Friday before the election would be required to present identification. Only if they drop the ballots off at the actual county recorder’s office that late would they be allowed to skip showing ID. Currently, voters can drop early ballots off at any location without ID up until 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Additionally, in-person voting would be expanded past Friday before the election to Saturday and Sunday before the election, but voters would be required to sign an early voting certificate that pledges that if they commit fraud, they are aware it is a felony. The bill is modeled after Florida’s laws, where election results are usually available late into the night of the election.

Much of the plan for securing the border revolves around ensuring that Proposition 314 is properly implemented. The measure, which passed with over 62 percent support from voters, makes it a state crime to enter the country illegally, allows local and state law enforcement to arrest illegal border crossers, requires the use of the e-Verify program to determine immigration status before someone enrolls in public assistance or financial aid, and makes the sale of fentanyl a Class 2 felony if the person knowingly sells fentanyl and it results in the death of another person.

The border security section also calls for more “oversight of refugee agencies that contract with the state to ensure compliance with state and federal law enforcement and immigration law.”