Republican state lawmakers engaged in a national effort to rewrite ballot access laws after the largest and safest election in history marked its first major achievement on Thursday, when the governor of Georgia Brian Kemp
Brian Kemp Democrats see Georgia as a round of applause in the Tornado Voting War leaves at least 1 dead in Newnan, Georgia Bill Clinton over Georgia’s new voting restrictions: ‘An attack on our democracy’ MORE (R) signed a comprehensive revision package in law that will restrict voter access to absentee ballots and ballot boxes.
In other states, Democrats watched with growing anxiety, knowing that their legislatures would be next.
“We have been watching Georgia very closely and we knew that our Republican lawmakers would also present something,” said state senator Stephanie Chang (D), who represents part of Detroit and its southern suburbs.
The day before Kemp signed the Georgia legislative package, Michigan Republicans introduced 39 bills to change a voting process that resulted in President biden
Joe BidenDemocrats see Georgia as a round of applause in the war for voting rights The MLB can move Georgia’s All-Star game after further restrictions on controversial voters. raise the state by 154,000 votes in 2020. Among the measures are proposals to limit the ability of electoral officials to send absenteeism voting requests, require a copy of voter identification when sending an absentee vote and a limit on delivery boxes.
These measures add to the more than 250 bills introduced in legislatures across the country this year that will place new requirements or restrictions on the means of voting, according to the count at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
Conservative groups that support reforms, such as the Heritage Foundation, which supports legislation such as Georgia’s reform in seven other states, say the reforms are not aimed at race-specific voters.
“This is just an old leftist tribe about calling things racist that they don’t like. Our view is that voting should be easy and difficult to cheat, ”said Garrett Bess, vice president of government relations at Heritage Action. “There was a need for some standardization that was not federally enforced, but from state to state, to ensure that best practices were followed in conducting the elections.”
The bills apparently aim to address shaken faith in an electoral reform process that those nominated by the Trump administration have classified as the safest and safest in the history of the country.
“Republicans basically set fire to alleging that there is widespread electoral fraud and convincing their base that this is true, and then they are acting like the fireman coming to extinguish electoral fraud that does not exist by going through all these unnecessary voters for suppression projects,” he said. state deputy Chris Turner (D), president of the Texas House Democratic Caucus.
In interviews, Democratic lawmakers drew a direct parallel between President Trump
Donald TrumpDemocrats see Georgia as a round of applause in the MLB war for voting rights may move Georgia’s All-Star game after further restrictions from controversial Biden voters dismiss most DHS advisory board members MOREthe false allegations of electoral malfeasance, the January 6 uprising on the United States Capitol and the bills that are advancing in Republican-controlled legislatures today.
“After their failed coup attempt, Republicans across the country, especially in Georgia and Arizona, are on Plan B,” said state deputy Athena Salman, the minority’s Democratic representative. “I didn’t hear an argument [from Republicans] it is not connected with the big lie. “
In the middle of a committee hearing this week on a proposal to require voters to present a copy of an ID issued by the state along with an absentee ballot, the Republican chairman of the state House Elections and Government Committee interrupted Salman and tried to vote for her.
In states like Georgia, Arizona and Texas, where Republicans hold control of both the state legislature and government chambers, there is little Democrats can do to delay or vote against the new voting restrictions.
The minority may delay some projects: in Arizona, in February, a single Republican state senator voted with Democrats to block an attempt to eliminate a permanent mailing list. In Texas this week, a committee hearing on a major project was postponed when procedural confusion caused a hiccup.
“This is a very bright line for the members of our caucus. We are united in opposing bills that would make voting difficult. We will fight with everything we have, ”said Turner. Still, he admitted, “It’s difficult.”
Even in a state like Michigan, where the Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer
Gretchen WhitmerDemocrats see Georgia as a round of applause in the war for voting rights The Republican Party leader in Michigan mentions ‘murder’ in response to the question about anti-Trump Republicans. almost certainly would veto party electoral restriction projects, Republicans have a chance to bypass the governor.
In comments to a local Republican club this week, Michigan Republican Party President Ron Weiser said the party could use a provision in state law that allows the GOP to collect 340,000 signatures – about 15 percent of the total number of Michiganders. who voted for Whitmer – to send an electoral review package to the legislature. Whitmer could not veto this legislation.
Many of the main provisions of the new legislation would undoubtedly create new obstacles for minorities and low-income voters, who are more likely to live in areas with fewer polling stations and longer queues. A myriad of recent election studies have shown that those who live in districts with many minorities wait more in line to vote than those who live in districts with whites.
A clause in the recently passed Georgia law would make it a crime to distribute bottled water to voters waiting in line.
Legislation to revise existing voting rules is not restricted to undecided states. The Republican-controlled Montana legislature is one step away from approving the end of voter registration on the same day, after an election in which the party regained the governor’s mansion and retained control of the legislature. The Missouri State House approved a new voter identification bill after the state Supreme Court rejected an earlier version. The West Virginia State Senate passed a measure that puts an end to voter registration on the same day and cuts the early voting period.
Democratic-controlled lawmakers are in the midst of their own wave of electoral reviews. Many, but not all, of these measures would make some of the temporary expansions of voting rights implemented in the midst of the pandemic permanent.
New Jersey lawmakers this week passed a bill to allow voters to vote early, a practice that is outdated in Northeastern states. The Illinois legislature sent Governor JB Pritzker (D) a bill to expand voting by post and sidewalk. Washington lawmakers passed a bill to restore criminals’ right to vote as soon as they get out of prison.
The big difference between the two approaches to voting rights illustrates the new incentive structure created for Republicans by a former president who started laying the groundwork to deflect the blame for his loss even before voters started voting. Democrats used to compete for the same rules as Republicans now say they face an opposition that wants to change the rules, instead of playing the game.
“You can really expand your message to a larger constituency or you can try to change the rules. They are following the path of the loser, ”said Michigan State Sen. Jim Ananich (D), the leader of the Democratic minority. “It will hurt your party in the long run. But in the short term, they will have some success in the legislatures, but we are going to take them to court. ”