Donald Trump-style Republicans in more than 30 states are pushing new laws that basically would make it easier for them to steal future elections, according to a new report provided to USA TODAY by a group of voting rights organizations.
"The false belief that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump due to voter fraud, election machine manipulation, or other irregularities has been repeatedly debunked, yet it motivates the trend of unprofessional reviews often conducted by explicitly biased personnel," the report said.
There are 38 proposals in at least a dozen states that would give more authority over election procedures to more biased lawmakers or their appointees. These proposals"increase the danger of partisan election manipulation," the report said. One example is Georgia, which passed new laws in direct response to Trump's protest of his loss to Biden in the Peach State. Trump still criticizes Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and is backing challengers to both Republican incumbents in Tuesday's primaries. FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2020 file photo, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a news conference in Atlanta. Georgia's most populous county, a Democratic stronghold that includes most of Atlanta, faces a high-stakes test in Tuesday’s Nov. 2, 2021 municipal elections, with some Republicans itching for a state takeover using a sweeping new law. ORG XMIT: NYMV302 As if to punish Raffensperger, the Georgia law stripped the secretary of State of his role as chair of the State Election Board. It gives the more partisan legislature the authority to appoint the election board chair, and gave the board as a whole the power to remove local election officials for cause, after a hearing and appeals process. Pending proposals in Kansas, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin would allow legislators to revoke any election rule or regulation they dispute.Some subversion proposals are designed to sow doubt about the results by placing unreasonable demands on election administrators said. For example, Trump backers in at least six states are calling for required hand counts of ballots, a reaction to false claims that voting machines were tampered with in 2020. While fine in theory, hand-counting creates problems in the real world where states deal with hundreds of thousands or even millions of ballots, the reports' authors say. Demanding hand counting practically guarantees"delays, higher rates of counting error, and increased risk of tampering by bad actors." The six states considering hand counting requirements are Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, New Hampshire, Washington, and West Virginia. Another set of proposals would prevent election officials from responding to"partisan poll watchers who interfere with or intimidate voters or officials." That might lead to suppression of votes or interference with counting ballots, the report said.Some proposals seem designed to intimidate election officials into undermining balloting, the report said, threatening them with legal penalties"for poorly defined offenses." Polling place worker Donna Appleby holds her dog Daisy Mae as she waits for voters during the Pennsylvania primary election at the LSL Sportsman's club in Orrstown, Pa., Tuesday, May 17, 2022. In Texas, for example, the state's new voting law makes it illegal to help people fill out ballot applications. Florida has created a new office to investigate complaints against election officials."They create this air of intimidation," said Elizabeth Pierson, an attorney with the organization Law Forward who helped put together the report. After the 2020 election, Trump and his allies tried some of these same tactics in states like Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona.Many of these pending proposals, Homer said, would "make it more plausible that their efforts could succeed next time."Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting
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