Dem
51
GOP
49
Continuing the theme of "Republicans are starting to get desperate," there has been a noticeable uptick in the past few weeks when it comes to the energy being put into potential chicanery. In a number of states, election rules and procedures are changing rapidly and not always for the better.
Let's start with Georgia. The state Elections Board used to toil in obscurity. No longer. Meetings are loud, bitter and partisan. While the board does not oversee elections directly, it does set the rules for elections that the counties must follow. In May, a new member was appointed to the five-member board, giving Republicans the majority. Some of them are Trumpy election deniers.
Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said of that appointment: "I believe when we look back on Nov. 5, 2024, we're going to say getting to that 3-2 election integrity-minded majority on the State Election Board made sure that we had the level playing field to win this election."
You can probably see where this is going. The Republican majority favors boosting the number of poll watchers each party can send to watch over elections. The Democrats fear that large numbers of partisan poll watchers will lead to intimidation and chaos.
Another hot issue is how much freedom counties have in refusing to certify results. The statewide results can't be certified until all the counties have certified and election deniers at the county level can thus block statewide certification by claiming that something was crooked in their county. For example, the "wrong" person won. In the past, the counties just reported the results. It was previously not up to the local boards to determine if something was wrong with the election. That was up to the courts, but now the local boards can carry out their own "investigations."
And even if a county is willing to certify the results, that doesn't mean they will get certified, at least in Georgia. A 2021 law gives the secretary of state the power to take over county election boards—for example because he doesn't like the results somewhere. Election administration is just another front in the culture wars now.
Arizona is another state where the rules are being fought over. There are longstanding rules in Arizona prohibiting certain kinds of voter intimidation, such as making photos and videos of voters and yelling at voters. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Ryan-Touhill just ordered county officials to stop enforcing these bans because, in her view, they inhibit free speech. Apparently, the First Amendment guarantees partisan poll watchers the right to scream at voters and intimidate them. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) has said he will appeal the ruling, but early voting starts in only 2 months, so there isn't much time left.
In particular, the Judge does not like the new Elections Procedures Manual, which was approved by Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) and AG Kris Mayes earlier this year. It was updated in response to what happened in the last cycle, when heavily armed people wearing body armor intimidated people trying to deposit ballots in drop boxes. The executive director of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club testified at that hearing that the new manual was ambiguous and its members could be prosecuted for activities that they did not consider threatening. It is not known when the appeals hearing will be held.
And there is more than this going on in Maricopa County (Phoenix). Stephen Richer (R) is the Maricopa County Recorder who tried endlessly to run fair elections in the face of boatloads of disinformation and death threats. A couple of weeks ago, he was defeated in the Republican primary by state Rep. Justin Heap (R), an election denier whose campaign was run by one of the indicted 2020 fake electors. Heap wrote on eX-Twitter: "This November, we will end the laughingstock elections that have plagued our county, state and nation." In November, Heap will face Democrat Timothy Stringham. The results of the election will not affect the 2024 results, but will affect future elections. And numerous other election deniers won primaries in Arizona, as well.
All in all, not good news for democracy. Though keep reading. (V)