Arizona Republicans propose to give lawmakers – not election officials – a final review of election results

Arizona Republicans propose to give lawmakers – not election officials – a final review of election results

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The effort by Republican lawmakers in battleground states to drastically change voting laws comes after last year’s elections saw record numbers of early and postal voters, many of them Democrats, after the rules were relaxed due to the pandemic of the coronavirus. The high numbers triggered unfounded allegations of fraud by then President Donald Trump and other Republicans that culminated in the deadly January 6 uprising on the United States Capitol.
Under a new proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution, submitted by a Republican state senator, the legislature would meet in a special session on Monday after election day to “review or investigate, if necessary” the election results, a provision that some Republicans have said is needed after the November election.

Republican Senator David Gowan, the project’s sponsor, said the legislation “does not intend to annul the people’s vote”, but provides a process for auditing the election.

Democrats and supporters of voting rights rejected the legislation, saying it could deprive voters by placing election results in the hands of state legislators.

“This initiative is so offensive, an affront to our democracy,” said Randy Perez, director of democracy at LUCHA Arizona, a grassroots social and economic justice organization.

Arizona became one of a handful of states that had their election results examined after the November election, when President Joe Biden became the second Democrat in more than seven decades to win the state. The Trump campaign had filed a lawsuit in the state seeking a review of all ballots released on Election Day, alleging that some voters were confused on Election Day and feared their votes would not be counted. The campaign later dropped out of the process.

Also according to the proposed amendment, the legislature would have the authority to choose the state’s presidential voters.

Arizona has 11 votes at the Electoral College and the list of voters comes from the same political party as the presidential candidate who obtains the most votes. Current state law requires presidential voters to vote for the winner of the popular vote, and any voter who refuses to follow the law to be replaced, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State.

The choice of the electoral ticket is of critical importance in the presidential elections, when even the smallest margin can result in victory. In the November election, Biden’s victory in Arizona was instrumental in getting him the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

Gowan said his proposal would “bring the authority of the Electoral College back to the legislature”.

Republican lawmakers introduced a similar bill to the Arizona House.

Democrats and supporters denounced the Senate bill for perpetuating baseless allegations of electoral fraud and potentially risking depriving millions of voters, saying it could give the legislature the power to overturn the election results.

“Why have a presidential election, why do voters vote if, essentially, the legislature will be able to override what voters vote for,” State Sen. Sean Bowie, a Democrat, said at a meeting on Tuesday.

The project is one of more than a dozen electoral projects that state Republicans introduced after Biden’s victory in November, many of which focus on the postal voting process that skyrocketed in 2020, with about 80% of Arizonans voting. by post.

In the Grand Canyon state, according to an updated analysis by the liberal Brennan Center for Justice, lawmakers have submitted, filed or are advancing at least 19 bills that aim to restrict access to voting.
A bill would require ballots by post to be authenticated. Another allows voters to request a ballot by mail, but voters would have to return them in person. A move would remove voters who lose four consecutive elections from the state’s Permanent Early Voting List – which allows a voter to automatically receive a ballot in the mail for each election – effectively eliminating the “permanent” appeal.

Overall, according to Brennan, at least 250 bills with restrictive voting are being evaluated by state legislatures, an effort led by Republicans – more than six times the number of bills at the same time last year.

Voting rights experts and advocates see a link between Republican state proposals and Trump’s conspiracy theories surrounding his defeat in the 2020 elections.

“This policy is driven by lies and deprives voters. It is time to silence people. Because people were heard in November and some people did not like what they heard,” said Alex Gulotta of All Voting is Local Arizona in an interview. with CNN.

“It is really the tyranny of ignorance. A subset of people who are so concerned with maintaining their power that they are willing to do anything, and part of that is to continue this falsehood about our elections,” he added.

Even members of the Republican Party of the state legislature have doubts about the need for some of the bills, including Republican House President Rusty Bowers.

“In order to reestablish some sense of credibility in the elections themselves, people have presented many bills. Some of them, I think are valid. We need to clear the voter list, make sure people are here to vote, this is quite normal But other things are not so acceptable to me, “said Bowers, adding that he disagrees with the proposal that voters have their absentee ballots authenticated.

“No, I will not do that,” he said.

“I was not happy with the result, but I need not be happy with the result to know that honorable people have done honorable work,” said Bowers, while praising the security and integrity of the state’s electoral system.

If the constitutional amendment is finally passed, it will be voted across the state in the next general election in November 2022.

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