As Ronald Reagan said several times in his 1980 Presidential Debate with President Jimmy Carter:
“There you go again.”
That phrase is apt for the recent attempts by the Arizona fringe right currently occupying the State Republican Party (and across the country) to look for any means to suppress or obstruct people’s (specifically, those that do not support them) ability to easily cast a mail in or in person ballot during election season.
Over the last several days, Anti-Democratic voting efforts have centered around:
- An extremist ((and laughable if it was not so frightening) petition to the Arizona Supreme Court to declare early voting unconstitutional.
- Republicans in the Arizona State Legislature voting to let voters decide whether there should be additional identification requirements (like listing ones birthday, drivers license number, social security number, or voter identification) when submitting a mail-in ballot.
This needs to be made clear to all readers. There has never been any major issues with early voting or mail in balloting in Arizona.
Any efforts to prove otherwise, like the Maricopa County Audit by Cyber Ninjas, have been found to be lacking.
This is just the latest attempt by the alternative reality-Trumpist wing of the former Party of Lincoln to try and make voting harder for people they see as a threat to their drive to gain or maintain power.
In response to request for comment by this writer for the Blog for Arizona, the two Democratic Candidates for Secretary of State (Reginald Bolding and Adrian Fontes) and one of the leaders behind The Arizonans for Fair Elections Ballot Initiative Movement (Eric Kramer) offered their perspective on one or both of these attempts to turn back the clock on voting rights.
On the Petition to the Arizona Supreme Court
House Democratic Leader Reginald Bolding offered:
“Continuing in their unfounded quest to subvert our elections and suppress voters’ access to the ballot, the Arizona GOP are attempting again to make it harder to vote by trying to end Arizona’s no-excuse absentee voting system. This system was put in place by Republicans over three decades ago and is used by over 90% of Arizona voters from across the political spectrum. Arizona’s tradition of voting by mail didn’t happen by mistake, it’s become the most popular way of voting because it’s convenient and accessible for everyone. Limiting voters’ access to the ballot will only hurt those who already have multiple barriers in their way, excluding them further from their fundamental right to vote. This power grab is just another attempt to cut voters out of choosing who represents them in government. As Secretary of State, I will do everything in my power to keep our elections free and fair, and make sure all voices are heard.”
Former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes wrote:
“The AZ GOP’s lawsuit aims to destroy our vote-by-mail system. The same one they created in the ’90s. This is not about protecting our elections. This is about profiting off the lies and the fear they have manufactured. I won’t sell lies, I’ll sell the truth. And the truth is we have had great elections run here in Arizona by members of every party. We need to protect those systems and defend our democracy from these sorry grifters.”
Current Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, in a comment to AZ Central, asserted:
“I look forward to once again defending the voters of Arizona and defeating this ridiculous attempt to undermine our elections.”
Eric Kramer, chairman of Arizona Deserves Better, relayed:
“The Republicans are again showing their fear of the Arizona voters. Arizona is the only state in the Union where the citizenship of every voter is validated. It’s why the fraudit came up with absolutely nothing. Let’s take a look at what the state Constitution actually says about voting, ‘All elections by the people shall be by ballot, or by such other method as may be prescribed by law; Provided, that secrecy in voting shall be preserved.’ I don’t see anything there that says 90% of Arizonans are wrong in continuing their 30-year tradition of voting by mail.”
On Putting a Ballot Initiative that would put new Requirements on Submitting Mail In Ballots.
Mr. Fontes stated:
“We should not be forcing voters to jump over more hurdles to cast a ballot. We already have a stringent signature verification process, phone number identification, voter registration cards, and a robust tracking system. These gimmicks by extremist Republicans are designed for one thing only – obstructing the people. As Secretary of State, I won’t stand for it.”
Mr. Kramer wrote:
“The radical right majority in the Legislature knows they are deeply unpopular and needs to do everything possible to suppress the vote. The citizenship of every Arizona voter has already been established, so why create more burdensome rules to stop them from voting? The long and costly Fraudit came up with absolutely nothing. So far, authorities have determined that one Republican woman in Scottsdale tried to cast the vote of her dead mother, and she got caught before the fraudulent vote was counted. And that is the full story of attempted voter fraud in Arizona. These attacks on Arizona voters are an attack on our republic and democracy itself.”
Mr. Bolding was not able to comment to the this portion of the interview because of the joyous occasion of the birth of his child.
Mazeltov and congratulations to Mrs. and Mr. Bolding.
Beware the political party and its members that are openly attempting to take away the natural right to elect the people that represent them.
Such a party and the people professing such a reactionary, Anti Democratic, and Anti Freedom program should not be afforded the power to stifle their constituents Constitutional and God Given rights.
When going to the voting booth in 2022, remember which party wanted to expand your voting rights (Democrats) and the ones that wanted to restrict them (Republicans in case a reminder is necessary.)
It should not be a difficult decision on who to vote for when considering that one criteria alone.
Do not forget to vote for the Arizonan for Fair Elections Initiative if that is on the November ballot.
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