Lawmakers all across the United States except three states have presented bills intended to restrict ballot access, according to a recent count by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
Their recent study showed 361 bills restricting voting were presented in forty-seven American states since 24 March. The total number published on Thursday morning, which counts a forty-three percent increase in the number of bills introduced since Brennan Center published the total numbers last time over a month ago.
In February, the Brennan Center for Justice’s earlier total recognized 253 restrictive bills in forty-three American states.
Three states (Arizona, Georgia, and Texas) have led the nation in the number of bills that intend to restrict the vote: Arizona, 23; Georgia, 25; and Texas, 49.
The increase reflects a tight contrast to a year ago, before the pandemic Covid-19 as well 2020 election, when state legislators were not involved or interested in restricting voting access. Moreover, in Feb 2020, the Brennan Center for Justice’s review of the state law recognized just thirty-five restrictive bills in fifteen US states.
Source: Web
Ohio, Delaware, and Vermont didn’t introduce the voting restrictive bills
The legislative force is a part of the national Republican struggle that intends to restrict access to the ballot box after record audience in the election. At this time, the GOP handles both chambers of thirty state legislatures, including Arizona, Georgia, and Texas. Just three states (Ohio, Delaware, and Vermont) are still away from introducing voting restricting bills.
Above half of the 361 voting bills would turn it tougher to vote by mail and absentee, following a record number of voters by mail in the November 2020 election. Around one in four voting bills want to set tight and stricter voter identification requirements.
Texas state has presented twenty-five voting bills that will restrict mail-in and absentee voting, above any other American state. Arizona and Georgia – two key locations that turned in favor of President Biden in the 2020 election – after Texas with twenty and fourteen introduced voting bills aiming at absentee voting, respectively.
Texas state is also leading in the country regarding a number of voting bills aiming at voter roll purges, polling places, and voter registration. Moreover, as the present head of the most restrictive voting bills introduced overall, Texas states is a crucial spot to watch because voting bills continue to advance in its legislature.
