New voting laws under debate in Arizona, Texas and Tennessee could reduce voter turnout: NPR

After the strong participation in last year's mid-term elections that pushed Democrats to a new majority in the House and significant gains in the states, several Republican-controlled legislatures are trying to change the rules. voting in order to reduce the future participation rate.

In Texas, state lawmakers are considering adding criminal penalties to people who fill out registration forms poorly. Arizona Republicans are proposing new voting rules that could further complicate the early voting process. In Tennessee, GOP lawmakers are considering a bill that would condemn groups involved in voter registration campaigns that submit incomplete forms.

Republican lawmakers in these states believe that new laws are needed to preserve the integrity of voter lists and prevent fraud. Voter advocates and Democrats reject these claims and argue that policies are designed to curb the participation of young, non-white and poor voters, who are less likely to support Republicans.

If adopted, these proposals could have an impact on future elections, notably in Arizona and Texas, where demographic and political trends make the two states more competitive at the national level for the first time in decades.

Last fall, Republicans in Arizona saw their full control over all offices in the state as a result of the growing influx of Democrats, losing four of nine races across the country. state, including a seat in the US Senate. Democrats view the state's other Senate seat as one of their best recruiting opportunities in 2020. In Texas, a record voter turnout helped Democrats overthrow two congressional seats and the 12-member legislature. States – not to mention the rapprochement they have had for decades in the race in the Senate. While Tennessee was ultimately not competitive in 2018, newly registered voters multiplied in the Democratic fiefdoms of Memphis and Nashville.

Bills in Republican-controlled states that could hold back the vote come at a time when many Democrat-led states are moving in the opposite direction by expanding access to early and remote voting and adopting the right to vote. automatic registration of voters (several traditionally Republican states have also adopted automatic registration of voters). .

"We are seeing both the good and the bad sides of the 2018 election results," said Danielle Lang, co-director of the Voting Rights and Redistricting Program at the Non-Partisan Campaign Law Center.

Texas: from crime to crime

Bill 9 of the Texas Senate, recently approved by the state Senate and reviewed by the Legislature, would make it a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment for any person who provides false information on an elector registration form or who votes ineligible, even if it is by mistake.

The state's voting groups are concerned that this effort could result in a jail sentence for people who do not complete their registration forms properly. Currently, providing false information about an application is a crime.

"If Senate Bill 9 is passed, a person who makes a simple mistake – adds the wrong postal code on an elector's card – could be prosecuted, fined and even put in jail." said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network. register young voters, among others.

She described the bill as "one of the most stringent laws in the crackdown on voter voting in the country," pointing out that Texas was already one of the most difficult states in terms of voter registration and that the proposed new sanctions could make it even more difficult.

The latest initiative to tighten election laws in Texas comes just months after Texas election officials launched a troubled effort to remove alleged non-citizens from the state's electoral lists.

The sponsor of the bill, Senator Bryan Hughes, a Republican from East Texas, said the bill's purpose was not to repress people who "inadvertently check a bad box ". He says the goal is to make sure local prosecutors "prioritize these crimes".

"This bill is for people who intentionally cheat," said Hughes. "It's not about catching people who make an honest mistake."

Cases of intentional election fraud are rare in Texas – in many cases where authorities have sued someone, those prosecuted have stated that they have not realized that they are n & # 39; They were not allowed to vote.

Advocates with voting rights are also concerned about the increase in the criminal penalties provided for in the bill for those who vote – including an interim ballot – when they vote. do not have the right to vote.

Provisional ballots have been created by federal law to allow people to vote if they are not sure they can do it. A provisional ballot is only counted when election officials determine that the elector who submitted it is eligible. Interim ballots are often used when eligible voters are not wrongly included in the voters lists of their state.

Senate Bill 9 violates federal protection, said James Slattery, a lawyer with the Texas Civil Rights Project.

"That would imply that if you knew the facts that made you ineligible to vote, even if you did not know the law, voting with the help of this provisional vote would essentially make you a criminal," he said. -he declares.

Tennessee: "We've never seen a bill like this"

In Tennessee, Republican legislators point to the proliferation of incomplete registration forms submitted to Memphis and Nashville during the mid-term preparatory period of 2018, which motivated the state's legislation.

Election coordinator Mark Goins said that under current law, county election commissions are required to search and verify incomplete registration forms.

"This only targets people who create chaos intentionally or knowingly," Goins told WPLN member station.

The measure, which has already passed in the state house, is backed by Goins. It proposes fines of up to $ 10,000 for groups that pay people and submit more than 500 incomplete forms, with lesser penalties for fewer incomplete registration forms.

But for people who "intentionally and knowingly" submit incomplete forms, the bill suggests that they could face charges of misdemeanor.

The law would also require groups to submit the forms within 10 days of the registration campaign and require training for those registering voters of more than 100 people. Groups would also not be allowed to pay campaign workers by registration form.

The risk of fines could dissuade people from organizing registration campaigns, said Tequila Johnson, co-founder of the Equity Alliance, who said the bill was attacking organizations like his own who are dedicated to the registration of people of color.

"We've never seen a bill like this on the floor until we dared to vote 86,000 blacks and blacks," Johnson said at a conference. press release in Nashville. "It screams racism."

Arizona: "This is a service – it's a convenience"

The changes envisioned by the Arizona Republicans would concern registered voters who registered to vote by mail but did not use them.

The bill would remove some people from what is called the permanent advance voting list. PEOLL electors receive ballots so that they can return them or deposit them on polling day.

But Republican Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita wants counties to eliminate people from this list if they do not vote early in two consecutive election cycles.

"We want to make sure the lists are up to date – it's just good practice – it makes sense, frankly, no matter what kind of database you have," he said. She told a committee of the House. "The fact that you are really communicating with those who wish to communicate and who use the service is a service – it's a benefit."

Local election officials say they already have the means to keep their own voting lists and that the bill will simply confuse voters. The Arizona State Secretary's office estimates that 200,000 electors on the advance voting list did not vote in 2016 or 2018. But the office also said the wording of the bill was not unclear, making it difficult to assess its potential impact.

Democratic Representative Athena Salman called for the removal of voters to serve the PEVL.

"There is a big debate about whether or not it's" peh-vl "or" pee-vl. "But I think it's only fitting that if this project The list will no longer be "permanent", so it could be called "evil", she said.

Republicans dispute that it is an attempt to make voting more difficult. The bill does not remove people from registration lists, only the mailing list for advance polls.

Republican lawmakers have proposed other bills during this legislative session that have sparked criticism from advocacy groups, including one that prohibits paying workers for every form of law. registration of the voters that they return.

"All Americans care about electoral integrity"

This latest set of laws was passed after a decade of repression by state-level Republicans in favor of stringent voter identification laws in the United States. Voter advocates criticized these laws for adding barriers to voting, which would particularly hurt non-white and poor voters, although a recent academic study suggests that laws have not been passed. "no negative impact on registration or participation".

The foundation declared by Republican lawmakers for many of these laws was to reduce the impact of electoral fraud in person. Repeated research has revealed little evidence of anything more than a small number of cases of voters having tried to vote multiple times. But the repeated message that electoral fraud was widespread has become a powerful motivator for Republican campaigns to rally their own voters. Similarly, Democrats have also used potential threats of access to vote to mobilize their own supporters.

But the impact of this surge has been to increase partisanship and conflict around the vote, the centerpiece of a democratic system.

Legislators often review voting laws after an election, said Lang, the legal center of the campaign. For example, the Republican governor of Iowa lobbied for criminals to more easily regain their right to vote after their release, even if that ultimately failed. Finally, Kansas, which has been struggling with election laws for years, recently passed a two-party vote law that will make voting easier.

"All Americans care about the integrity of elections, yet these issues are treated in a very partisan way," Lang said.

Ashley Lopez reports for the KUT member station in Austin, Texas. Bret Jaspers reports for KJZZ to Phoenix. Sergio Martínez-Beltrán reports for WPLN in Nashville, Tennessee.