Introduction
The months after November’s presidential election have been filled with conspiracy theories, lies and myths about the security and integrity of U.S. elections, led by former President Donald Trump and many Republican leaders.
As a result, polls show that more than half of Republican voters wrongly believe that President Joe Biden and his supporters engaged in fraud to steal the election a view backed by most congressional Republicans and scores of state and local GOP officials.
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Pointing to their constituents’ doubts, GOP lawmakers in at least 28 states have introduced more than 100 bills to tighten voting rules, according to a recent report from the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. The bills would, for example, add new voter registration requirements and scale back or eliminate voting by mail, which voters flocked to during the pandemic. Supporters say these measures would restore
Print article JUNEAU The first bill to be heard in the Alaska Legislature this year would partially dismantle voting-by-mail systems used by Anchorage, Juneau and other cities across Alaska. Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, said Senate Bill 39 is intended to strengthen the security of Alaska’s election system in a nonpartisan way, but several legislative observers began circulating alarmed emails on Friday, with Native Peoples Action asserting that Section 22 of the bill “may ban municipalities from having vote-by-mail elections.” That section would prohibit cities and boroughs from automatically sending ballots to registered voters, a cornerstone concept of by-mail voting systems. Cities and boroughs would still be able to send ballots to voters who request them.
Election reform bill pre-filed to make it easier to vote in Alaska
House Bill 66 removes barriers to the ballot box at every stage of Alaska s elections
Friday PM (SitNews) Juneau, Alaska - Today, Representative Chris Tuck pre-filed election reform legislation to expand voting access and to modernize Alaska’s elections.
“In November, over 361,000 Alaskans voted. Never in our state’s history have so many Alaskans cast a ballot in an election. Why did so many people vote? I think the answer is crystal clear; vote by mail made it easy. Because of the pandemic, we finally made it convenient for people to vote, and not surprisingly, they voted in record numbers,” said Representative Chris Tuck (D-Anchorage).
But overcoming obstacles to cast a ballot in the first place is not an uncommon experience for many of the estimated 6.8 million Native American individuals residing in the United States and members of the 574 federally-recognized Native tribes, according to activists and experts interviewed by Insider.
An extensive report conducted by the Native American Voting Rights Coalition, a project of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), based on two years of research in Native communities across the country and released in June, found that Native voters still face inequitable access to registering to vote, casting a vote, and having their vote count.