33 state legislatures have introduced bills that would interfere in election administration, new report says
CBSN
A new report released Wednesday highlighted the sweep of state legislative efforts that may threaten fair and secure election administration.
This year legislatures in 33 states — most of which are controlled by Republicans — have introduced 244 bills that would give the partisan legislature or legislatively appointed officials more sway over election operations than civilian appointees, or create undue burdens for nonpartisan election officials. Twenty-four of those bills became law, according to the report from the States United Democracy Center and Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan organizations that aim to defend democratic elections.
Some of the proposed laws were introduced by prominent election deniers who will be on the ballot this November, as candidates for office as their state's top election official. Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem, who is currently running for secretary of state, introduced one bill to decertify Arizona's 2020 election results —which researchers note is not a legal option — and another to require hand tabulation of ballots in all elections, a move that experts have said would make the count more error-prone, rather than less, and more vulnerable to interference. The Republican gubernatorial nominee in Pennsylvania, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, introduced legislation that would strip some nonpartisan professionals of their oversight of election administration.
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