Democracy Clips: February 24, 2023

 

BIG LIE AND ELECTION DENIALISM

 

Ex-Attorney General in Arizona Buried Report Refuting Voter Fraud Claims. “Mark Brnovich, a Republican who served as Arizona’s attorney general until January, buried the findings of a 10,000-hour review by his office that found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, newly released documents reveal. The documents were released on Wednesday by Mr. Brnovich’s successor, Kris Mayes, a Democrat who took office last month as the top law enforcement official in the battleground state, which remains at the forefront of the election denial movement.” [New York Times, 2/23/23]

 

They defeated election deniers, but these secretaries of state still fear ‘losing our democracy’. “Secretaries of state, who have increasingly found themselves on the front lines in the fight for democracy, met last week in Washington to discuss how to keep election integrity top of mind as the next presidential election begins to gear up. Several of the officials gathered at the winter meeting of the National Association of Secretaries of State had beaten back challenges last year from election deniers in contests that in some places attracted as much national attention as a competitive Senate race. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat who defeated Republican Mark Finchem, a former Arizona state representative who routinely spread election disinformation, said races like his provided ‘good perspective’ on ‘how close we still are to losing our democracy.’” [Boston Globe, 2/24/23]

 

Texas bar loses bid to sanction Trump lawyer over 2020 election denial. “A state district judge dismissed a Texas state bar disciplinary case against Dallas attorney Sidney Powell for her role in disputing the 2020 election results as a lawyer for former President Donald Trump. The State Bar of Texas filed a petition last March accusing Powell of professional misconduct by filing frivolous voter fraud lawsuits in four states, making false statements to a court and knowingly presenting false evidence. Powell filed lawsuits in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona accusing election companies of vote manipulation.”  [Dallas Morning News, 2/23/23]

 

VOTER SUPPRESSION AND INTIMIDATION

 

Nearly 70 Bills Introduced To Restore Voting Rights After Felony Conviction. “On Tuesday, the Minnesota state Senate sent a bill to the governor that would restore voting rights to individuals with past felony convictions immediately upon release from incarceration. Under current law, individuals lose voting rights until the completion of their entire sentence, which includes parole, probation or community release and can stretch for years or decades after they return to their communities. This is one of the first bills that has sailed through Minnesota’s Legislature, newly-controlled by Democrats, and the first piece of legislation in 2023 to restore voting rights statewide. It heads to Gov. Tim Walz (D) for his near-certain signature. Since the 2020 election, a surge of legislation restricting voting access has moved through state legislatures. In 2023, anti-voting bills remain a fixture in Republican states across the country. Yet, there is one voting policy area where proposed legislation has been overwhelmingly positive: improving felony disenfranchisement laws to restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated individuals.” [Democracy Docket, 2/23/23]

 

Republicans Back Bill For Tighter Indiana Mail Voting Rules. “Indiana voters would have to submit more identification information to obtain mail-in election ballots under a bill Republicans are advancing through the state Legislature. The Indiana House voted 64-27 along party lines Wednesday in favor of a bill that would require voters submitting a paper application for a mail ballot to include a photocopy of a government-issued identification card or at least two ID numbers, such as their 10-digit driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.” [Chron, 2/23/23]

 

Texas Senate revives effort to make illegal voting a felony. “Republican leaders in the Texas Senate are intent on raising the penalty for voting illegally from a misdemeanor to a second-degree felony, despite the lack of evidence of widespread voter fraud in Texas. The effort comes nearly two years after the Legislature passed a sweeping voting bill, Senate Bill 1, that lowered the penalties for such crimes to a misdemeanor — and then almost immediately began discussing raising them back.” [Texas Tribune, 2/23/23]

 

As DeSantis and lawmakers make it easier to prosecute election crimes, advocates question their priorities. “After Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a hastily-passed bill last week making it easier for statewide prosecutors to go after election crimes, criminal and voting rights advocates question why his administration doesn’t instead try to prevent those crimes from happening in the first place. ‘If it was a priority, we could get it done,’ said Neil Volz, deputy director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. The coalition spearheaded the successful 2018 Amendment 4 campaign to restore voting rights to 1.4 million people barred because of past felony convictions, with the exception of murder or sexual offenses. Months later, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill signed into law by DeSantis to keep hundreds of thousands of felons from becoming eligible to vote until they met all their past legal financial obligations.” [Tallahassee Democrat, 2/23/23]

 

DISINFORMATION

 

Top state officials push to make spread of US election misinformation illegal. “Chief election officials in several states want to make it illegal for someone to knowingly spread false information about an election, a move that raises questions around first amendment protected speech. The Democratic secretaries of state for Michigan and Minnesota told the Guardian they’re supporting legislation that would criminalize people who spread misinformation about an election. Michigan’s secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, said the law would prevent people from tweeting that Election Day is on a Wednesday or saying that voting machines are insecure, when they know that information to be false.” [Guardian, 2/23/23]

 

DARK MONEY

 

Cortez-Masto sponsors bill to get dark money out of politics. “Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto is co-sponsoring legislation to help get dark money out of politics. The new legislation called the Disclose Act aims to eliminate dark money from political campaigns by upholding election disclosure requirements.” [News 3, 2/23/23]