(Headline USA) Republican lawmakers in statehouses across the country are moving swiftly to reign in the illegal and unconstitutional voting methods that facilitated widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Although most legislative sessions are just getting underway, the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy institute, has already tallied more than 100 bills in 28 states meant to ensure election integrity.
More than a third of those proposals are aimed at limiting mail-in voting, while other bills seek to strengthen voter ID requirements and registration processes, as well as allow for better means to remove people from voter rolls.
The proposals are advancing not only in Texas and other traditional red states but also in such places as Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Many Republicans have said the new bills are meant to shore up public confidence.
Some GOP lawmakers there are seeking new criminal offenses to deter voter fraud.
Other bills would prohibit independent groups from distributing application forms for mail-in ballots and clarify who can request an application.
In September, the state sued Harris County, home to Democratic-leaning Houston, to stop officials from sending mail ballot applications to the more than 2 million addresses.
Texas Rep. Jacey Jetton, a Republican, said he hopes lawmakers will pass new regulations for verification of voters’ identity for mail-in voting to ensure “elections are accurate and that people feel it is conducted in such a way they are getting a fair, accurate election result.”
A bill to eliminate no-excuse mail voting has been introduced in Pennsylvania, though the proposal would need approval from the state’s Democratic governor.
In Arizona, Republicans have introduced bills that would eliminate the state’s permanent early voting list, require mail ballots to be notarized, require mail-in ballots to be hand-delivered to a voting location.
Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature are gearing up to impose new protections for mail-in voting.
A Republican senator has introduced a bill that would require voters to make copies of their photo ID and mail it to election officials twice in order to cast an absentee ballot.
The state’s Republican governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state have backed the idea of requiring a photo ID for mail voting, though it’s unclear if they support that specific bill.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.
