Assigned to JUDE FOR COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
FACT SHEET FOR S.B. 1123
watermark; paper ballots
Purpose
Requires fraud countermeasures for ballots to include at least 3 of the 10 outlined features.
Background
A county board of supervisors, or the city or town clerk in municipal elections, must
prepare and provide ballots containing the names of all persons who have filed certificates of
nomination. All ballots cast in elections for public office in Arizona, and the cards of instructions
to voters, must be printed, delivered and distributed at public expense and be a county, city or town
charge, depending upon the type of election being held (A.R.S. § 16-503). Ballots must be printed
with black ink on white paper that is sufficiently thick to prevent printing from being discernable
from the back. Additionally, the head of the ballot must include the type and date of election, the
name of the county, and the name or number of the precinct. Statute outlines specific instruction
for the order that instructions and offices must be listed on an official ballot (A.R.S. § 16-502).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this
legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires any vendor that provides fraud countermeasures that are contained in or on the paper
used for ballots to be ISO 27001 certified, ISO 17025 certified or ISO 9001:2015 certified.
2. Requires ballot fraud countermeasures to include the use of at least three of the following:
a) unique, controlled-supply watermarked clearing bank specification 1 security paper;
b) secure holographic foil that acts as a visual deterrent and anti-copy feature;
c) branded overprint of any hologram that personalizes the hologram with customer logo;
d) custom complex security background designs with banknote-level security;
e) secure variable digital infill;
f) thermochromic, tri-thermochromic, photochromic or optically variable inks;
g) stealth numbering in ultraviolet, infrared or taggant inks;
h) multicolored micro-numismatic invisible ultraviolet designs;
i) unique forensic fraud detection technology that is built into security inks; or
j) unique bar code or QR code that is accessible only to the voter and that tracks the voter's
ballot as it is processed.
3. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
January 27, 2025
ZD/ci