The first bill signed by Gov. Doug Ducey this year will help speed up Maricopa County’s vote counting process in the upcoming Presidential Preference Election.

Senate Bill 1135 was unanimously approved with an emergency clause in both the House and Senate and signed by Ducey on Monday. 

Thanks to that emergency clause, Maricopa County election workers will be allowed to use a new electronic method to fix ballot errors in March, rather than make corrections by hand.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and election officials pushed for the bill as part of broader reforms to the county’s election operations.

County officials are hoping to avoid a repeat of 2018, when voters had to wait nearly two weeks for election results.