Correction – the audio podcast version has an error that has since been corrected for the syndicated radio broadcast. We referred to the National Voting Rights Act; it is the National Voter Registration Act. Sorry for the error!
Today’s Links
Articles:
Arizona Star/Tuscon.com – Feds: Arizona could face lawsuit over voter ID law
Associated Press – Feds sue over new Arizona citizenship proof law for voting
Groups Taking Action: Â Mi Familia Vota, Living United for Change AZ, League of United Latin American Citizens, Arizona Students Association, Arizona Democracy Resource Center
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
We reported back in April about a bill passed by the Arizona legislature and signed by Governor Doug Ducey that requires that Arizona voters must have proof of citizenship when voting for President, a law at odds with the National Voter Registration Act. The U.S. Justice Department just filed suit last week to block that new law. Â
Arizona has two ballots for elections; a state & federal elections ballot and a federal-only ballot, which was implemented when the State of Arizona implemented a proof of citizenship law in 2004 for state ballots. The federal-only ballot uses an affidavit to swear to citizenship on penalty of perjury, but does not require identifying papers. It was used by about 12,000 voters statewide in 2020, some of whom are Native Americans who may not have the necessary documentation. Election deniers pointed to baseless claims of voter fraud among these ballots when Donald Trump lost Arizona by just under 10,500 votes. Voter fraud is extremely rare, and there was no evidence of widespread abuse in 2020.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has made comments that allowing such voting without proof of citizenship was part of a widespread plan by “neo-Marxists” to allow non-citizens to vote. But in addition to the Justice Department filing suit, two other voting rights organizations have filed their own suits, trying to protect the right of ALL Americans to vote.
We have links to articles and groups taking action at
AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
Granny D said “Democracy is not something we have, but something we DO.”
For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.