We must slay all the dragons of AZ voter-suppression laws

4th Feb 2022

“We gave the authority to the people.”

So said Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, after essentially killing a bill that would have granted authority to the Legislature to overturn election outcomes decided by voters – in other words, We the People.

Give credit where credit is due: Speaker Bowers showed admirable fortitude in taking such decisive procedural action in the name of democracy, knowing a sizeable and vocal chorus of his party is still singing The Big Lie song about a stolen election and voter fraud.

“The point is, when we gave a fundamental right to the people, I don’t care if I win or lose, that right was theirs. And I’m not going to go back and kick them in the teeth,” Speaker Bowers told Capitol Media Services.

This was a big monster, HB 2695, no doubt about it. But there are plenty more monsters with gnarly gnashing teeth looking to feast on democracy – 118 such creatures, to be exact, in the hideous form of voter-suppression bills introduced so far in the Arizona Legislature this session.

It is unlikely Speaker Bowers will slay every dragon, and he has said as much, believing some fire-breathing beasts actually may deserve oxygen for election reform.

CPLC Action Fund disagrees. We know voter-suppression laws are targeting people of color, trying to snuff their growing political power due to the state’s changing demographics.

The truth is, the only voter fraud we’ve seen are of the institutional variety in the form of voter-suppression laws, baseless ballot audits by partisan amateurs and a fake slate of presidential electors trying to illegally cast votes for Donald Trump.

CPLC Action Fund thanks Speaker Bowers for his bravery and looks forward to fighting alongside him whenever possible in order to preserve, protect and defend democracy. Conversely, we will be fight on the other side, when necessary, by attempting to kill anything and everything that seeks to diminish or dilute voter access – whether that is the elimination of ballot drop boxes, further restricting vote by mail, invasive driver’s license requirements, or punitive removal of voters from the rolls of the electorate.

Baby dragons grow up to be big dragons. Therefore, any and all voter-suppression legislation being hatched at the Legislature must be killed in order for democracy to live freely and thrive.