Republican state lawmakers push new criminal penalties for election activities
In the week before last November's general election, Iowa progressive activist Mitch Henry scoured neighborhoods on the east and south sides of Des Moines, in search of fellow Latino voters who had not yet returned their absentee ballots.
"Some of these people were homebound, and voting was probably the last thing they were thinking about, unless someone encouraged them to vote," Henry said. In all, he estimates that he helped return about 50 completed absentee ballots to his local election office.
But under a sweeping election law enacted recently in Iowa, Henry's ballot collection practice is now considered a crime -- punishable by up to a year in prison.
It's just one example of Republican-controlled legislatures adding new criminal penalties to their election laws as they race to restrict ballot access, following the record voter turnout in the 2020 election. The proposals range from bills that would make it a crime for election officials to buck state guidance to measures that criminalize more mundane activities, such as Georgia's controversial election law making it a misdemeanor to approach voters waiting in line to provide food and drink.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/republican-state-lawmakers-push-new-criminal-penalties-for-election-activities/ar-BB1fxnwQ
= new reply since forum marked as read
