By Joe Miller · August 31, 2022
This Week: MAGA Republicans Work To Suppress Voters By Changing State Election Rules
As the Jan. 6 committee prepares to reconvene with two hearings scheduled in the next month, MAGA Republicans have been working tirelessly to restrict ballot access by changing state election rules in their favor across the country.
Over the past week, the ultra conservative-majority Arizona Supreme Court rejected a ballot initiative that would have expanded ballot access after signature challenges from a host of conservative advocacy groups. Additionally, a joint lawsuit pushed by far-right Governor candidate Kari Lake and QAnon-cozy Secretary of State candidate & state Rep. Mark Finchem, attempting to ban voting machines in the November election, was dismissed due to lack of evidence. Days later, Finchem lost a defamation case alongside Stop the Steal rally planner Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ-4) and false elector/state Senate candidate Anthony Kern, contesting their presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
A North Carolina rules commission rejected two proposed rule changes protecting poll workers opposed by former Trump lawyer Cleta Mitchell, who was heavily involved in the plot to overturn the 2020 election results. Mitchell asked the commission to block the proposed restrictions recommended by the state Board of Elections in the wake of widespread violence and harassment against poll workers in 2020.
In Nevada, state officials finalized regulations that will standardize hand-counting procedures for November and prevent MAGA tampering – but far-right Secretary of State candidate & former state Rep. Jim Marchant’s hand-counting plan adopted by Nye County will evade the new rules. In response, state legislators have begun drafting a bill that would require counties refusing to use voting machines to reimburse the state of Nevada for any unused machines purchased with state funds.
Elsewhere, in ongoing Republican efforts to incite violence and subvert the will of voters:
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s attempt to dismiss his subpoena in the Fulton County grand jury investigation was denied earlier this week. Meanwhile, District Attorney Fani Willis has begun investigating a voting systems breach orchestrated by Trump lawyer Sydney Powell, and is now seeking testimony from Powell and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, who was involved in delivering packets of false electors to former Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, hired one of Wisconsin’s 10 GOP false electors to staff his 2022 reelection campaign.
In Utah, a man has been charged with a felony after threatening Senate candidate Evan McMullin — who is challenging Jan. 6 conspirator Sen. Mike Lee in November — at gunpoint on the campaign trail.
And finally, the Michigan GOP convention officially elevated extremist candidates Matt DePerno for Attorney General and Kristina Karamo for Secretary of State to the November ballot on Saturday. During the convention, a group of far-right dissidents led an attempt to replace Macomb County’s legitimate delegates with a group of self-proclaimed ‘Ultra MAGA’ delegates – an effort that was overwhelmingly rejected by Michigan Republicans at the state convention.
