‌‌‌‌‌A Legal Insurrection In Arizona

? Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here to receive The Franchise in your inbox every week.

Hello readers!

An Arizona legislator who played a key role in Trump’s effort to steal that state’s Electoral College votes has successfully shepherded a piece of legislation that will disenfranchise voters through state law, not insurrection. That is, if the Supreme Court takes his side this time around.

Got a voting rights story you think our readers should hear? Respond to this email and tell me about it.

Alright, let’s dig in.

Arizona’s Voter Registration Obstacle Course

We wrote last week about HB 2492 in ARIZONA, one of dozens of voter suppression proposals recently considered by the majority-Republican legislature. Gov. Doug Ducey signed it into law late last month. 
 

The new law requires documentary proof of citizenship and residence in order to register to vote -- seemingly in blatant violation of a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling over an earlier Arizona law that did basically the same thing. The bill’s sponsor, freshman GOP Rep. Jake Hoffman, was a key player in Arizona’s Big Lie scene. And he says it’s different this time around given the U.S. Constitution’s language about the manner of choosing presidential electors being left up to the states. 
 

And in that sense, the bill is an homage to 2020: Hoffman was a phony “Trump elector” who urged Mike Pence in a letter to allow the Arizona legislature its supposed constitutional authority to ignore voters’ will and hand the election to Trump. Now, Hoffman is saying it’s the legislature’s prerogative to establish onerous (and arguably unconstitutional) voter registration requirements, which advocates of the bill have excitedly pointed out will affect a pool of voters larger than Biden’s margin of victory in the state. 

Fishy Election Fraud Prosecutions In Florida

We flagged this briefly in the last newsletter, but the story has only expanded since: 10 people have now been charged with election fraud in FLORIDA because they registered to vote in a county-sanctioned jailhouse registration drive while still owing fines and fees from past convictions. 
 

The fight over ex-felon re-enfranchisement in Florida, in 2018 and 2019, was bitter: Voters overwhelmingly supported the reform, but Republican legislators watered down the measure after it passed in a statewide referendum vote by requiring the payment of fines and fees -- on top of prison time -- before a former felon’s voting rights could be restored. 
 

Then, in 2020, the Alachua County supervisor of elections held a registration drive in a local jail. Those election officials, of all people, should have known the details of ex-felon re-enfranchisement, but at least one man charged says the office’s then-outreach coordinator, Thomas “T.J.” Pyche, didn’t flag any potential legal danger. 
 

One of the ten people charged is mentally ill, a relative previously wrote to a judge. His rap sheet includes allegations of stealing -- gasp -- a leaf blower and cigarettes. Meanwhile, officials in the supervisor’s office have been cleared of any wrongdoing by state prosecutors.  

Around The States

More than 12% of mail-in ballots in TEXAS were rejected under Republicans’ new ID law, according to a state tally -- one out of eight mail-in voters. 
 

The ALABAMA legislature last week became the latest body to approve legislation outlawing election officials accepting donations and grants from private organizations for voting operations. 
 

Also in that state: The Washington Post has a detailed look at the ongoing redistricting fight. 
 

MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signed a congressional redistricting map into law after a judge threw out an earlier map for being too favorable to Democrats, who currently hold a 7-1 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation. The new map may preserve that ratio, though one Democratic district, currently represented by Rep. David Trone (D), will get more competitive. 
 

Voting rights groups in KANSAS argued in court that a new law criminalizing any activity that could be mistaken for the work of an election official would make their volunteer efforts impossibly risky.
 

As expected, FLORIDA will appeal a judge’s ruling -- a fiery 288-page history of racist voter suppression in the state -- that new voter restrictions are unconstitutionally discriminatory. 

The Latest In Election Sabotage

Tina Peters, the Mesa County COLORADO clerk accused by a federal grand jury of a MAGA-tastic scheme to violate the county’s election security protocols, was the overwhelming favorite to be the next secretary of state at the Colorado GOP assembly Saturday, when thousands of party members voted on GOP primary candidates. She still has to win the formal primary in June, but this is an early sign that a multi-count indictment hasn’t dampened her changes. 
 

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell announced a few days earlier that he had donated $800,000 to Peters’ legal defense fund. That would appear to be illegal under Colorado law. Peters said she had no knowledge of the donations, even though she’s previously plugged Lindell’s fund. 
 

One WISCONSIN Republican who signed a phony presidential elector document supporting Donald Trump in 2020, Kelly Ruh, was defeated for reelection to her position as alderperson in De Pere. Melinda Eck, who organized a 2020 Stop the Steal rally in Green Bay on Jan. 6, 2021, was elected to the Green Bay city council.
 

ARIZONA Attorney General Mark Brnovich made a lot of noise in a new report about Maricopa County’s 2020 election results, but alleged no actual wrongdoing at the end of the day. 
 

Former MAINE Gov. Paul LePage (R) is running for a third non-consecutive term, campaigning on a pitch for a voter ID law, supported by a dubious claim about out-of-state Massachusetts voters getting bused in to vote for same-sex marriage rights. 
 

WISCONSIN’s partisan 2020 election investigator Michael Gableman has outlasted several deadlines set by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R), but he’s still harassing Vos for more time.

Brennan Center: Big Outside Spending on Election Denial Floods Local Elections in Battleground States
 

Bipartisan Policy Center: The Dangers of Partisan Incentives for Election Officials
 

TPM: Republicans Smell Blood In The Water On The Voting Rights Act. Again. 
 

Reuters: Stung by redistricting rulings, Republicans target state court elections

? Franchise subscriber but not yet a TPM member? New members can now get a 7-day all-access pass to try TPM Prime for FREE! Sign up here.

? Was this email forwarded to you? If you liked what you read, you can sign up here to get The Franchise in your inbox every week.

Advertise // Site // Contact