Arizona Republicans’ desperate new hurdles for voters of color and those with limited means
Arizona Republicans’ desperate new hurdles for voters of color and those with limited means
Several Republican bills have been introduced in Arizona to change the way voters register. These laws will disproportionately impact voters of color, those with limited means, and seniors. Arizona’s voting system is not broken, and the restrictions are not needed. Communities of color across the country are experiencing widespread voter suppression designed to disenfranchise them — particularly those who vote overwhelmingly Democratic.
As state legislators compete to restrict voting access as much as possible, Arizona’s plan is a winner, as it suppresses voter turnout while also violating federal law. If current Governor Doug Ducey had gotten his way two years ago — before he even took office — most of them wouldn’t have been able to do so without jumping through multiple hoops first. Arizona was set to implement a voter ID law that would have required voters to bring an Arizona driver’s license or government-issued photo ID to their polling places. They would also have had to sign an affidavit affirming their identity under penalty of perjury before showing identification at the polling place. The requirements are almost identical to what Kansas implemented in 2011 after passing its strict voter ID law — which has since been declared unconstitutional by courts in two states.
Kicking people off the rolls if they don’t provide updated paperwork within specific time frames violates federal law. The result was that no matter how many hoops Arizonans had to jump through to vote, there were still going to be thousands who hadn’t updated their registration but still wanted to vote in person rather than by mail (which is also permitted). Arizona legislators came up with a novel solution: Let unregistered voters fill out forms at polling places and let election officials decide whether or not they should be allowed to vote. They called it ballot harvesting. Vote harvesting isn’t just a misnomer since there’s no actual farming involved. It takes advantage of something that every one of us feels while filling out paperwork-the need to complete a task as quickly as possible. Arizona’s proposed law would have required voters to write down their full legal names on Election Day, identify with documentation, and then hand over their completed ballot. They would have needed to fill out a new form for each additional vote they turned in.
Legislation requiring every voter to show proof of citizenship to vote attempts state lawmakers to thwart a ballot initiative that allows those without citizenship documentation — such as tribal members, immigrants, and students — to register to vote.
The proposed law is modeled after existing, restrictive voting laws in Georgia, Kansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Many citizens have already been prevented from registering to vote by Georgia’s exact match law. If enacted here, Arizona would be subject to federal scrutiny under the Voting Rights Act, which requires certain states to get federal approval before changing voting procedures. College students represent one percent of active registered voters, but three percent of all canceled registrations are due to missing post office boxes on campus rather than fraudulent intent. In addition, women accounted for 57 percent of permanent early ballots. So prohibiting county recorders from sending them reminders about how and when to vote early presents a significant hurdle. Finally, if measures such as mandatory signature verification get implemented throughout state government, it will slow down voter registration significantly while driving up costs without making elections more secure or deterring fraud. Research shows that signature checks do not reduce fraud — and in some cases may even increase it.
Voting may be difficult under some laws, especially for marginalized groups without transportation or internet access. Several Arizona seniors live in places with no public transportation, so they rely on friends and family members for transportation to the polls. And if one of those family members also has a full plate at work, the odds are good that an older adult will struggle just to get out and exercise their right to vote.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich should reject these new voting restrictions in court.
Especially when it impacts historically disenfranchised groups, we urge Republicans to back down from efforts to restrict people’s voting rights. They know who they are trying to discourage from voting, and given Trump’s loss in Arizona last year, you’d think they would avoid making it harder for them to vote to prevent them from voting. Those who wish to “make America great again” could make America look like it had never existed — like during Jim Crow segregation or before women were given the right to vote.
