Democratic-led swing states are jumping at the chance to rewrite voting laws ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Politico reported.
Currently, more than 100 election-related bills have been pre-filed for the 2023 legislative session, according to the nonpartisan group Voting Rights Lab, which tracks election laws across the states. Democrat-led states are more likely to favor laws which loosen voting restrictions, such as by expanding early voting or adopting automatic voter registration, according to Politico. (RELATED: Democrats Whip Up Fear Of ‘Rigged’ Midterm Elections)
In Minnesota, where voters swung for President Joe Biden by 52.4% in 2020, state leaders may consider proposals to restore voting rights to convicted felons and adopt automatic voter registration, which immediately registers citizens to vote who interact with any government agency unless they request to be opted out.
“These are proposals I’ve been talking about for years, even when Republicans controlled one or both of our legislative chambers,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told Politico. “They’re not partisan in origin, nor in effect.”
In November, Michigan voters, 50.62% of whom voted for Biden in 2020, approved a measure to amend the state constitution to include several new voting standards. The changes expanded early voting to be a nine-day period, required a signed affidavit or photo identification to vote and revised absentee voting by approving state-funded stamps and tracking systems.
Pennsylvania, which narrowly voted for Biden in 2020, may consider “increasing pre-processing time for mail ballots,” Republican Sen. David Argall told Politico. If approved, election officials would be able to handle mail-in ballots before Election Day to minimize delays in releasing unofficial results.
The measure was introduced by Republicans in 2021 but was vetoed by former Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in 2021, according to Politico.
“I have supported it in the past, I will support it in the future, but I don’t think you can do just that one thing,” Argall reportedly said. “I think there’s going to be too many other people saying ‘plus this, plus this,’ and that’s where it gets complicated.”
Voters cast their ballots at the Kendell Arms polling location on November 8, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
Georgia, notable for two consecutive runoff elections which resulted in Republican losses, could consider revising its election laws to get rid of the runoff system altogether as lawmakers allege voters are suffering from “fatigue.”
“No one wants to be dealing with politics in the middle of their family holiday,” Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told Politico in a statement.
He suggested the General Assembly consider either an instant runoff, which permits voters to rank candidates according to their preference instead of choosing one, or lowering the threshold needed to surpass to declare victory from 50% to 45&. Republicans ushered in a new runoff law last year which lowered the election timeframe from nine weeks to four weeks.
Simon, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Argall and Raffensperger did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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