Election bill proposing AZ Legislature can overturn election results
News 11's April Hettinger dives into the Republican bill and the Democratic opposition
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Arizona Legislatures recently imposed a new bill that would change the way future elections are held and even dramatically affect the outcome of the election.
Arizona House Bill 2720 was brought to the table by Rep. Shawnna Bolick who is an advocate for more efficient and fair elections stemming from the voter fraud allegations in the 2020 election.
Section 3 of the bill suggests that the Arizona Legislature would have the power to overturn the Secretary of State's election results at any time before Inauguration Day.
Rep. Charlene Fernandez of District 4 is opposed to this idea.
"That's just a horrible thought that people go and vote and exercise their right to vote and who they want to be the next President and Vice President of the great United States, and then it goes before the Arizona Legislature and a body of 90 is going to decide if you were right," Rep. Fernandez said.
Rep. Fernandez says this will discourage voters if they think their vote doesn't matter.
Rep. Bolick says the recorder's office still receives countless requests to conduct an audit of the 2020 election.
"This bill would give the Arizona Legislature back the power it delegated to certify the electors. It's a good, democratic check and balance."
- Rep. Shawnna Bolick, (R) AZ House - District 20
But Democrats emphasize this was one of the most fair elections.
"It ran so much more smoothly than four years ago because of all the safeguards they put into place because of all the additional places where you could vote and the push to vote by mail," Rep. Fernandez explained.
Other matters on the bill would remove permanent early voters who haven't voted recently to make it easier to conduct audits.
There is also another section that records how many ballots they sent out versus how many they received to ensure there aren't any extra votes.
But, Rep. Fernandez says there are more important issues at hand.
"We want to be dealing with COVID. We want to make sure that here in our districts that we have enough vaccines, that if people need to get tested that they are able to get tested, and instead we're talking about suppressing the vote, how to change it because 'I'm mad about the last election,'" Rep. Fernandez stated.
There are a variety of election bills including this one that will be up for discuss this week in Arizona.
