Thread by @weareoversight

The 2020 election was a high point for voter turnout, in part because states expanded access to the polls. Now, a growing number of states are pushing baseless investigations into the 2020 election results and considering legislation that would limit voter access. #FoiaFriday

Partisan election “investigations” are gaining traction...Arizona is currently conducting a biased “audit,” Wisconsin’s top Republican has hired three retired police officers to conduct a review, and a Pennsylvania legislator is now pushing a “forensic investigation.” 2/

By furthering lies about voter fraud, bogus ballot reviews provide a pretext for voting restrictions and other harmful measures. And proposals to restrict access to voting have exploded across the country. 3/

These suppression efforts include state laws that make voting harder, such as those currently being considered in Michigan as well as in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott called a special legislative session to again take up a voter-suppression bill. 4/

Texas Democrats left the state this week in an attempt to block a vote on that voting restrictions bill. 5/
texastribune.org/2021/07/12/tex…

Some proposals to restrict voting rights have already become law. In Georgia, Republican leaders passed a law in March 2021 that critics say amounts to blatant voter suppression thanks to the many new restrictions it places on access to the polls. 6/

In Florida, another law enacted in the spring restricts absentee voting by requiring that ballots be requested before every federal election, rather than once every four years, and by adding ID requirements for requesting a ballot. 7/

Arizona is another hotspot of anti-voting actions, with new restrictions on mail-in voting as well as a plan to allow the legislature to overrule state election results and choose its own slate of presidential electors. 8/
americanoversight.org/investigation/…

The Arizona state legislature recently voted to revoke Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ authority in election lawsuits, instead giving that power to Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich (but only until the next election for those offices, in 2023). 9/

There’s more. Idaho’s H.B. 88 would prohibit third parties from returning an absentee ballot for anyone except immediate family members. 10/

In Kansas, S.B. 292 would also limit community ballot collection by requiring an additional signed affidavit from the voter and the ballot deliverer, while prohibiting people from collecting more than five ballots. 11/

In Wisconsin, where remote ballot collection boxes helped push the state’s record absentee voter turnout in 2020, S.B. 209 would ban drop boxes not attached to a local municipal clerk office’s permanent location. 12/

In Montana, S.B. 196 would allow some polling places to limit their hours. And in West Virginia, S.B. 565 would eliminate automatic voter registration. 13/

We’ve filed records requests in each of these states to shed light on the origins of and influences behind the new proposals. 14/
americanoversight.org/areas_of_inves…

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