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States Attempts to Reform Elections

It's working, folks! We are getting election reforms in key states! There are 361 bills in 47 states that introduce election reforms. Let's keep the pressure on them. Do NOT let up.

8/12/2021 - Texas passes Voter ID bill.

1/24/2021 - Several states with Republican legislatures, including the 5 battleground states of PA, MI, WI, AZ and GA are looking into reforming their election process. They are considering restrictions on "mail-in" voting, drop boxes and even looking at adding VoterID.

At least 60 election-related bills have been introduced in Texas, 26 are pending in New Hampshire and 41 in Montana, according to a count compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Legislators in Republican-controlled states like Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio are considering ending no-excuse absentee voting altogether. Wisconsin legislators will consider whether to curtail in-person early voting.

KANSAS: The KS legislature just over-rode the Dem governor and pass hard election reforms. House Bill 2332 prohibits the executive and judicial branches of government from altering election laws. It also prevents the Secretary of State from entering into consent decrees with a court without legislative approval.

House Bill 2183 focuses largely on mail-in voting. It limits who is permitted to return a mail-in ballot for another person and makes it a misdemeanor for one person to return more than 10 mail-in ballots. The measure also requires the signature on a mail ballot to match the signature election officials have on file, creating a potential for votes to be discarded, and bans the Secretary of State from extending mail-in vote deadlines.

The bill also makes it illegal to backdate a postmark on a ballot and bars election offices from accepting money from any entity other than the state for administering elections.

TENNESSEE: Tennessee’s Legislature approved a bill that requires the addition of a watermark on all absentee ballots in a nearly unanimous vote.

Senate Bill 1314 passed the Senate in a 27-0 vote on Monday, and the House adopted the state Senate version of the bill on Tuesday in a 92-1 vote.
Governor will sign (it's veto-proof, anyway)

WYOMING: Legislature passes VoterID bill. Governor signed it into law

ALABAMA:  Governor Kay Ivey signed two laws for a “free, fair, and highly ethical” election process. One of the two laws is for revising the process of updating voter addresses and another to ban curbside voting.

WISCONSIN: Senate just passed the banning of private money used for election administraton. Zuckerbucks not allowed. 

And a court in WI ruled that Governor Evers broke the law when he arbitrarily changed election law to allow over 200,000 people to declare themselves indefinitely confined so they could vote absentee without any identification. Since Biden only won WI by 20,000, this means Trump actually won WI as those 200,000 votes SHOULD (but likely will not) be cancelled.

OHIO: Stark County in Ohio rejected the purchase of more than 1,400 new Dominion Voting Systems machines after local residents rallied against them.

GEORGIA: The GOP state Senate approved legislation Monday to strengthen the state’s voter ID laws while putting limits on who may receive an absentee ballot.

Under the new bill, the state would ban so-called no-excuse absentee voting, limiting the number of people who can apply for absentee ballots to those over 65 years of age, those who have a physical disability, and those who are out of town. The new bill would also require voters to present a driver’s license or some other form of identification before receiving their absentee ballot.

Also considering legislation that, if enacted, absentee voters would not be allowed to get an application from outside groups and could return ballots only through the mail or by delivering them in person to the county elections office. If someone moves to Georgia or moves within the state, the person would have to remember to opt in to having the Department of Driver Services update their voter registration. If they relocate to Georgia after a November general election, they wouldn't be able to participate in a runoff.

UPDATE: 03/01/2021 - ID for absentee ballots are now required in Georgia.

UPDATE: 03/05/2021 - GA senate committee recommends DE-CERTIFICATION of their electoral votes

ARIZONA: One legislator is still pushing legislation that would require early-ballot envelopes to be notarized.

Another bill would allow voters to receive ballots by mail but would bar them from mailing the ballot back, and any ballots returned by mail would no longer be counted.
Beyond bills that affect how Arizonans vote, other legislation would directly impact the results of presidential elections.

By law, Arizona's 11 Electoral College votes are awarded to the winner of the popular vote statewide. One bill pushed by a GOP lawmaker would divide up electors by the state's nine congressional districts, similar to how electors are awarded in Maine and Nebraska. But instead of awarding two at-large electors to the winner of the popular vote, the Republican-controlled legislature would assign those electors to its preferred candidate.

Another separate proposal by GOP Rep. Shawnna Bolick would allow the legislature to simply override the will of the voters by allowing legislators to overturn the certification of presidential electors by a simple majority vote at any time before the inauguration.

ARIZONA UPDATE: A judge ruled 2/26/2021 that the Arizona Senate can get access to 2.1 million ballots and election equipment from Arizona’s most populous county so it can audit results of the 2020 election that saw Democrat Joe Biden win in the state.

“There is no question that the Senators have the power to issue legislative subpoenas,” Thomason wrote.“The Subpoenas comply with the statutory requirements for legislative subpoenas. The Senate also has broad constitutional power to oversee elections.

“The Arizona legislature clearly has the power to investigate and examine election reform matters”

FLORIDA: Florida passed their election  reform bill that would add ID requirements for voters requesting to vote by mail. Voters would have to provide either their driver's license or state ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security Number when asking for a mail ballot. The bill would also require this information to register to vote or to update a voter's registration.

The bill would also make voters request mail ballots more frequently. Florida has allowed mail ballot requests to last for two general election cycles, but the new bill would require voters to request a mail ballot every general election cycle. The bill also bars local agencies from accepting outside money for nearly all election-related expenses and from mailing unsolicited ballots to voters; expands the no-solicitation zone outside polling facilities by 50 feet; reduces the number of elections a single vote-by-mail application covers; imposes new voter ID requirements for updating one's registration record and applying for a mail ballot; allows counties to begin canvassing returned mail ballots sooner pre-election; sets up a state-run "live turnout data" dashboard for Election Day turnout and election night mail ballot processing; and gives poll watchers, candidates, political parties and committees, or their designees, more access to certain election processes and materials.

Drop boxes are one of the bill's main targets. Under the bill, they could be placed at election supervisors' offices, permanent supervisor branch offices and early voting sites. This is a slight change from current law It would require them to be at permanent branch locations rather than any branch office. Drop boxes would have to be distributed to give voters in a county equal access

PENNSYLVANIA:  Republican leaders in the Pennsylvania Senate introduced legislation Monday that would effectively prohibit the use of mail-ballot drop boxes that President Donald Trump has criticized, make it more likely that a winner in the presidential race is known soon after polls close, and reduce the number of ballots arriving late.

The legislation would allow voters to physically bring their completed mail ballots to their assigned polling places on Election Day, to county courthouses, or to “the permanent offices of the county board of elections.” That language, however, would likely block counties from setting up satellite offices for early voting and drop boxes, because mail ballots would be returnable to “no other location.”

Two state Republican lawmakers, Reps. Jim Gregory (R., Blair) and Michael Puskaric (R., Allegheny), want to abolish universal mail-in voting altogether.

Sen. Anthony Williams (D., Philadelphia), who served as minority chair of the State Government Committee in the previous legislative session, said if Act 77 were put to a vote again right now, it wouldn’t pass, especially among Republicans with an eye on higher office in 2022.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Senate Votes 24-0 to Force the State to Perform Audit of Windham, New Hampshire November 3rd Elections

IOWA: Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill to limit absentee voting, shorten early voting, and close the polls earlier on Election Day.

KENTUCKY: The Kentucky Senate passed House Bill 574, the election reform bill, March 16th by 33 to 3 vote.

House Bill 574 creates three days of early in-person voting, including a Saturday, with no excuse required. The legislation will also enhance the ability of state election officials to remove nonresident voters from the voter rolls, transition toward universal paper ballots statewide, and keeping the online voter portal, so absentee balloting is fully transparent both to voters and election officials. And the proposed legislation will prohibit and penalizing ballot harvesting, and retain the signature cure process, so absentee voters whose signatures have changed over time have a chance to prove identity and have their ballots counted.

MONTANA: Passes law that ends same day voter registration and requires Voter ID when voting and when registering

LOUISIANA: House passes bill requiring Voter ID for all mail-in/absentee ballots

That said...

It is IMPERATIVE that we all contact each member of those legislatures (both parties) and push them to do this. This is absolutely necessary in order to insure the Governors cannot veto such changes. You can find info on how to do this here, and a Petition To Restore Election Integrity here.

This is where the rubber hits the road, folks! This is what is needed. If we pass up this opportunity to repair the election process, we may never get another chance. Contact the legislators now! TODAY!
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