Republican lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to a plan to scrap the ability of voters to drop off their early ballots at polling places on Election Day.

And they are daring Gov. Katie Hobbs to follow through with her promise to veto it. That could occur as early as Monday.

The measure, approved without a single Democratic vote, is being promoted by supporters as a way of ensuring that it does not take days for Arizonans to learn who won the election. That has been an issue, particularly in close races, because of how counties now deal with what are called “late-early ballots.”

HB2703 would keep in place existing law that says early ballots can be dropped in the mail so long as they reach county offices by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

But if voters do not, they could no longer walk in to any polling place on Election Day and deposit their ballot envelopes into a box and walk out. Instead, they would have to deliver their voted early ballots to the county recorder or whoever is in charge of elections by that 7 p.m. deadline, a move that foes said could require people to drive hundreds of miles in some rural counties.

There would still be an option for Election Day voting by those with early ballots. But under those circumstances the person would have to present identification, which is the same procedure they would need to do if voting in person, foregoing the option to skip the line of those waiting to vote in person. And that, in turn, could add to what sometimes have been long lines and delays at polling places.

All that goes to what Republicans say are unacceptable delays in getting results.

The problem is the way counties count ballots.

Any “early” ballot that is simply dropped off at a polling place is set aside.

The envelopes only can be opened after the signature on the outside is first verified, something that cannot be done on site but has to be done at county election offices. And that process doesn’t start until the votes cast personally on Election Day are tallied.

What makes all this a problem is that in Maricopa County alone there were more than 290,000 of these “late-early” ballots dropped off.

Hobbs has made it clear that the bill is headed for a veto.

She said it would disenfranchise Arizonans who like the idea of filling out their ballots at home and then waiting until Election Day to drop them off at a nearby polling place.

And Rep. Myron Tsosie said the option of bringing them to a county office on Election Day is not a realistic alternative.

“If you want us to drive to our nearest recorder’s office, I would have to drive 3 1/2 hours,” said the Chinle Democrat.

Hobbs, a former secretary of state, has not disputed the time it takes to get final election results. But she contends that the earlier deadline will end up disenfranchising voters.

“My line in the sand has been and will continue to be if you make it harder for Arizonans to continue to cast their ballot, that’s a ‘no’ for me,” she said even before the first hearing on the bill.

That view had not changed as of Thursday, with the governor saying Republicans were trying to “jam through a partisan bill that guts vote by mail and makes it harder to vote.”

None of that is a surprise for Republicans. They already are preparing to enact the same restrictions, but this time as a proposal for voters in 2026, a process that bypasses the governor.

Hobbs said there were efforts to negotiate a compromise and that she was willing to discuss other options to speed up the process, but only ones that left the Election Day ballot drop-off in place.

Rep. Alexander Kolodin, R-Scottsdale, sponsor of the House version of the measure, said the governor really wasn’t interested in coming up with a deal.

He said there were committee hearings where county officials showed up to provide input and make suggestions.

“Then, when the bill gets out of committee and is about ready to go on the (voting) board, she comes to us with an unclear and vague laundry list of demands, although it’s not clear which demands need to be satisfied to supposedly get her approval,” Kolodin said. And many of these, he said, would take months to “refine.”

“That is not a tactic of good-faith negotiation,” said Kolodin. Instead, he said Hobbs was trying to protect herself from being challenged in her 2026 reelection by fellow Democrat and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes who has made it clear he opposes anything that curtails voter access.

That got a curt response from Christian Slater, the governor’s press aide.

“That’s been the governor’s position since she was secretary of state,” he said of allowing same-day ballot drop-off. Anyway, he noted that Fontes has said he’s running for reelection to his own post.

Fontes himself has questioned the need for the change, even in the name of speed.

Spokesman Aaron Thacker said most voters seem content to wait for official results. He said the only people who seem to want early results are the TV networks so they can “call” races, something that has no actual official meaning.

As to the timing of the governor’s objection, Slater said the measure wasn’t in its final form until Monday.

He also said that there was nothing vague about what Hobbs wanted. He said she would agree to an earlier deadline for ballot drop-off but only if there were trade-offs designed to ease the whole voting process.

One would be allowing people to register the same day they cast a ballot. That has been a non-starter for Republicans who want to preserve the current deadline to register 29 days before an election.

She said there also should be options for people to be able to remain registered when they move between counties.

And then there’s easing up on restrictions on what Republicans have called “ballot harvesting.”

A 2016 law, pushed by Republican lawmakers, makes it a felony to handle anyone else’s early ballot, with violators subject to a year in state prison and a $150,000 fine. Proponents said it was designed to preclude fraud – none was ever proven – or, at least, the potential of fraud.

There are exceptions for family members, those who live in the same home, and “caregivers” who work with people in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and similar places.

But the real aim appears to have been to end the practice of community groups going door-to-door shortly before an election, asking people if they had returned their early ballots, and then offering to deliver them, especially if it was too late to drop them in the mail.

Both parties had engaged in such efforts. But Democrats were more successful.

If nothing else, the governor said that lawmakers should give some time to see if legislation approved last year can help ease the Election Day crunch.

It allows, but does not require, counties to set up a procedure where someone who brings in an early ballot to show identification and be able to have it verified, without further signature verification. But it preserved the ability of those without ID, or who were dropping off a spouse’s ballot, to simply drop it in a box for verification later rather than having it discarded, what she said would be the result of what the Legislature approved.

But then the governor’s problems with the bill go beyond scrapping Election Day drop off. She pointed out that the final bill includes provisions that have nothing to do with speeding up the counting process.

One requires someone who wants an early ballot to first verify their address, once a year for Pima and Maricopa counties and once every two years for other counties.

The governor said that throws an additional hurdle in the ability of individuals to remain on what is called the “active early voter list” and automatically get an early ballot before every election, without having to make a request, as long as they continue to regularly vote.

Hobbs also found fault with another provision to repeal a law that allows a school principal to refuse to allow a building to be used for a polling place, either because space is not available or the safety or welfare of children would be jeopardized.

Supporters of this change said it would help ensure there are sufficient voting locations while foes said it ignores what could be real concerns.

The earliest Hobbs can act is Monday as the measure has not yet been sent to her.