Hi, it’s Jen Fifield. I’ve been keeping a distant eye on proposals floating around in the Legislature that would change how elections are run. I’ve been appreciative of the coverage of some of these ideas, but hesitant to write about them myself unless I believe they have a solid chance of becoming law.

That’s unlikely this year for two reasons. The first, more obvious reason is that Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is likely to veto any election-related bill passed only by the Republican majority.

The second reason is less obvious. Republicans control the Legislature by just one vote in each chamber, so they need every Republican vote to pass a bill or to bypass Hobbs and put a proposition on the November ballot for voters to consider. And I’ve had it on good authority for a while that one Republican isn’t willing to go along with the most extreme election-related proposals from his colleagues.

This week, that’s coming to fruition. Republican state Sen. Ken Bennett cast the deciding “no” vote on Tuesday on a measure that would have required counties to move back to precinct-based voting, instead of allowing voters to vote at any polling location in their county, and would have limited the number of voters served at each location to 1,000. He had told me before the vote that would be wasteful: Considering turnout expectations and the fact that most voters vote by mail, each location would see maybe 200 voters. It would also put the onus on counties to try to find enough locations and workers.

Some Republicans in the state are not happy with Bennett, with one conservative talk radio host calling him a “RINO rat.” But he doesn’t seem to mind.

Bennett told me by phone Wednesday that if a related resolution comes to the Senate floor on this topic, he will again vote “no.” He said he’s also unlikely to support a resolution that would require the state to create its own census to determine how legislative districts are drawn, instead of using U.S. Census data. He said he doesn’t see a strong argument to do this.

Bennett’s unwillingness to approve election-related proposals that don’t make logical sense to him doesn’t come as a surprise to me. He’s a former secretary of state. He knows how elections work. Yes, he did volunteer to help his friend, former Senate President Karen Fann, by serving as her liaison to the Republican Senate-commissioned “audit” of Maricopa County’s 2020 election. But I watched as the Cyber Ninjas slowly pushed him out as he tried to make their process more accurate and reputable. And when Fann decided not to run again in 2022 and voters elected Bennett to replace her, he was clear to me he wanted to pass only bills that would help improve voter confidence in elections.

Speaking of that, he’s still determined to pass his proposal to make ballot images public records, which was shot down at the last minute last year and was blocked this year from being heard in the House elections committee. He has a plan to try to get the proposal into the state budget somehow and told me to stay tuned.

What are your thoughts on Bennett’s refusal to go with the majority? Let me know at [email protected].