Arizona Senate GOP revives controversial election bill

(KYMA, KECY/ AP News) - As the battle over election laws continues in Arizona, a state Senate Committee has revived and advanced a controversial wide-ranging election bill.

It's a bill that would eliminate nearly all forms of early voting and require ballots to be counted by hand.

Republicans passed the bill out of the Senate Government Committee in a 4-3 party-line vote, but it is almost certain to die in a vote of the full Senate or in the House, as it has before.

The measure is strongly supported by Republican lawmakers and activists who claim widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

Meanwhile, Democratic groups have used the bill’s far-reaching provisions to raise money and draw attention to a variety of efforts in Arizona that they say would suppress votes, particularly of people of color and those with low incomes.