Wonttakeitanymore wrote:
Amen!!!
Efforts underway in key battleground states to return v****g systems to pre-2020 rules
Legislators looking to roll back major changes to mail-in v****g, early v**er lists.
By Daniel Payne
Updated: March 1, 2021 - 11:54am
Dig In
Significant legislative attempts are underway in multiple U.S. states, including key battleground states, to roll back major changes in v****g rules and regulations to various pre-2020 status quo antes. The efforts come after an historically chaotic e******n process that has left millions of Americans doubtful of e******n fairness, security, t***sparency and accountability.
Changes to e******n rules — some of them enacted prior to 2020 and others put in place in response to the C****-** p******c last year — have included expansive mail-in v****g, expanded early v****g, relaxation of verification rules, and extensions to b****t receipt deadlines.
Those rules likely contributed to a record 158,000,000-plus v**es cast in the 2020 e******n. But the relaxation of various v****g requirements has also led to significant distrust in the e******n system: Nearly 40% of v**ers believe that U.S. e******ns are beset by fraud, while a similar number claim that such concerns haven't been properly vetted by public authorities.
Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona all considering bills to roll back rule changes
Legislators in numerous states are angling to address some of those concerns by pushing for legislation to shore up what critics claim are the vulnerabilities created by relaxed v****g rules.
In Georgia — which flipped blue for Biden this year in one of several razor-thin races that went in the Democrat's favor — the Senate passed a bill that would require v**ers to submit "photocopies of v**er identification documents for absentee b****t applications."
The bill would do away with the current signature-matching system currently in place for absentee v****g. Critics have accused that system of being ripe for fraud and abuse, particularly after the state's Gov. Brian Kemp agreed to activist demands last year to make it much more onerous for officials to reject disputed signatures.
In Pennsylvania — which Trump lost by fewer than 100,000 v**es — state lawmakers have signaled an intent to repeal the state's "no-excuse" mail-in v****g system, first implemented in 2019.
State Sens. Patrick Stefano and Doug Mastriano last month said in a Senate memorandum that they "intend to introduce legislation repealing the no-excuse mail-in b****t provisions" put in place two years ago via the state's Act 77.
"By removing the provisions of law that allow for no-excuse mail-in b****ts, we can regain some trust in our e******ns' integrity," the senators argued.
Stefano has also vowed to repeal Act 77's "annual mail-in v**er list" and to mandate that "only the Pennsylvania Department of State may send applications for mail in b****ts to eligible v**ers."
"By guaranteeing that eligible v**ers must apply for a mail-in b****t for each e******n, and that only the Department of State may distribute the applications to apply for mail-in b****ts," he wrote, "we can address much of the confusion and frustration that surrounded our most recent e******n cycle."
In the Pennsylvania House, meanwhile, Rep. Dan Moul has vowed to codify into law "the only legal ways for a v**er to utilize the v**e by mail system," namely by returning a mail b****t either via the postal service or in person. Critics had criticized Pennsylvania's use of drop boxes during the 2020 e******n, claiming they posed a significant security risk, though the state Supreme Court ruled in a split decision that the boxes were allowed.
In some cases, legislators are attempting to get ahead of changes to v****g law that were observed in some states during the 2020 e******n. For instance, a bill under consideration in Arizona — another flip for Biden, one that the Democrat won by just 11,000 v**es — would make it a felony for any public official to proactively send out a mail-in b****t to any v**er not on the state's early v****g list.
Numerous states such as California and New Jersey automatically mailed every v**er a mail-in b****t ahead of the November e******n.
In Arizona, meanwhile, Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes last March attempted to send mail-in b****ts to every registered v**er there, though he was ordered by a court to cease shortly before doing so.