Creative Commons
Amid all the false claims about a “stolen” election, Republicans in key battleground states* have set out to rewrite the rules to benefit their favored candidates ahead of the 2022 midterms, and to benefit a certain former President in his probable 2024 run.
Here is a rundown of bills passed by Republican legislatures and either signed into law by Republican governors or vetoed by Democrat ones in states with gubernatorial races this fall.
Arizona
Biden’s 2020 margin of victory: 0.3 percent
The GOP-controlled legislature has passed and Republican Governor Doug Ducey has signed bills to:
Purge infrequent voters from the state’s early voting list.
Remove the grace period after Election Day during which voters were once able to fix a missing signature on a ballot.
If Republicans increase their majorities in the midterms this fall, they could also pass legislation to prohibit automatic voter registration.
Florida
Trump’s 2020 margin of victory: 3.3 percent
The GOP-controlled legislature has passed and Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has signed bills to:
Curb access to mail-in voting.
Impose new limits on the use of absentee ballot drop boxes.
Give new powers to partisan poll watchers.
A federal judge has struck down parts of the bill as unconstitutional and is now requiring the state to seek approval from a federal court before passing future voting laws. DeSantis, who is up for re-election in 2022, is appealing this ruling.
Georgia
Biden’s 2020 margin of victory: 0.2 percent
The GOP-controlled legislature has passed and Republican Governor Brian Kemp has signed bills to:
Impose new voter ID requirements on absentee voters.
Allow state takeovers of election boards.
Limit the use of drop boxes and reduce the amount of time people have to request an absentee ballot.
Trump, angered that Kemp did not do more to attempt to overturn the 2020 election result, is backing his challenger in a May 24 primary.
Michigan
Biden’s 2020 margin of victory: 2.8 percent
The GOP-controlled legislature has passed and Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed bills to:
Impose restrictive voter ID requirements.
Limit the use of absentee ballots.
Fix a nonexistent problem of voting machines being subject to tampering.
Make it harder for seniors and people living in large apartment complexes to vote.
GOP lawmakers are now trying to use a petition process to pass these requirements despite Whitmer’s veto. Whitmer is up for re-election in November.
Pennsylvania
Biden’s 2020 margin of victory: 1.2 percent
The GOP-controlled legislature has passed and Democratic Governor Tom Wolf has vetoed bills to:
Mandate voter ID in all elections.
Reduce the window of time to register to vote and to request absentee ballots.
Spend more than $3 million to establish a new Bureau of Election Audits.
The GOP has controlled the legislature since 2011; Wolf cannot run for re-election; Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is the presumptive Democratic nominee in the election this fall.
Wisconsin
Biden’s 2020 margin of victory: 0.6 percent
The GOP-controlled legislature has passed and Democratic Governor Tony Evers has vetoed bills to:
Impose new restrictions on the use of absentee ballots.
Require elderly and disabled people who are unable to get to the polls on their own to show a photo ID to vote absentee.
Eliminate the ability of local election officials to fill in missing information on the envelopes used to return absentee ballots.
Evers is up for re-election this fall; aggressive partisan redistricting assures that Republicans will maintain legislative control in both the state senate and assembly.