A lone Republican legislator’s ‘no’ vote has effectively blocked the passage of an Arizona voting bill targeting mail-in ballots. GOP Senator Kelly Townsend said that while she supports Senate Bill 1485, she would rather wait for a vote until after the GOP’s audit of the 2020 general election.
The bill calls for the removal of infrequent voters from the Permanent Early Voting List, which opponents say is an attempt at voter suppression, particularly targeting people of color and those experiencing poverty. Though the measure failed in the state Senate today, it is likely to resurface at a later date.
Meanwhile, ballots and election equipment used in the November election have been delivered to the state fairgrounds in Phoenix in advance of the GOP’s audit of the 2020 election. Republican lawmakers want a manual recount of more than 2 million ballots in Maricopa County. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which is Republican-dominant – maintains the election was conducted accurately and that Joe Biden was the legitimate winner. The audit will be live-streamed by the pro-Trump TV network OANN, which helped raise funds for the operation, according to U.S. News and World Report.
