{"id":12093,"date":"2021-05-27T12:35:51","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T16:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=12093"},"modified":"2021-05-27T12:44:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T16:44:38","slug":"cronkite-news-native-voting-rights-debated-on-capitol-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/05\/27\/cronkite-news-native-voting-rights-debated-on-capitol-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Native voting rights debated on Capitol Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\n
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Voting\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tVoting in America: The Potential for Voter ID Laws, Proof-of-Citizenship Laws (EventID=112670)\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

On Monday, May 24, 2021, the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Elections will hold a hearing, “Voting in America: The Potential for Voter ID …<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"YouTube\"\t\tYouTube\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
House Committee on Administration: Voting In America: The Potential For Voter ID Laws, Proof-Of-Citizenship Laws, And Lack Of Multi-Lingual Support To Interfere With Free And Fair Access To The Ballot<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Do voting laws protect or restrict access? House echoes state debate<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, May 27, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Brooke Newman<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n• Congressional Testimony: Matthew Brown \/ Native American Rights Fund<\/a><\/strong>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON – They came with studies, they came with polls, they came with statistics. And after more than two hours of a congressional hearing Monday, they walked away no closer to agreeing on how voting restrictions affect ballot access.

<\/p>\r\nDemocratic and Republican members of the House Administration Committee stuck largely to their talking points during a hearing on the effect that voter ID laws, proof-of-citizenship requirements and lack of language assistance have on elections.<\/span>

<\/p>\r\nRepublicans dismissed suggestions that voting ID laws have a disproportionate impact on minority voters, pointing to the turnout in the 2020 elections as proof.

<\/p>\r\n“In 2020 we saw more people cast a vote than any other presidential election in history, further dispelling the myth that voting ID requirements deter people from legally voting,” said Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin.

<\/p>\r\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Committee\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tCommittee on House Admn. Democrats (@HouseAdm_Dems) on X\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

Today, the Subcommittee on Elections held its third hearing in a series examining voting and election administration. Chair @GKButterfield gave remarks on the potential for voter ID laws, proof-of-citizenship laws, and lack of multilingual support to impact access to the ballot:<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"X\t\tX (formerly Twitter)\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nBut Democrats and some witnesses at the hearing pointed to a long list of studies that they said demonstrate, in the words of Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-Norht Carolina, that, “Voting ID laws have been shown to disproportionately decrease minority turnout.”

<\/p>\r\nThe committee debate<\/a> comes as the Arizona Legislature is considering several election bills that echo the national debate, with one side saying the changes protect and the other side saying they restrict voting.

<\/p>\r\nThe state had 23 restrictive voting bills for the 2021 legislative session, the third-most in the nation, according to a report<\/a> by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. It also had 15 Democrat-backed voting-expansion bills, but those were quickly killed in the Legislature.

<\/p>\r\nState lawmakers have already passed one measure that would stop the practice of automatically mailing ballots to voters on the state’s Permanent Early Voting List – now called the Active Early Voting List – if they had not voted in at least one election over a four-year period. Gov. Doug Ducey signed that bill<\/a> into law on May 11.

<\/p>\r\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Jonathan\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tJonathan Nez (@NezForAZ) on X\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

Arizona Governor signs two voter suppression\u00a0bills that disproportionately impact Navajo voters<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"X\t\tX (formerly Twitter)\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nDemocrats blasted the measure as an effort to purge voting rolls. But Ducey said<\/a> the move only brings Arizona into line with other states that have early voting lists, like California, and that the law requires election officials to reach out to those voters, who can still request a mail-in ballot.

<\/p>\r\nAnother pending proposal<\/a> would stiffen voter ID requirements for absentee ballots. Voters would have to provide their date of birth along with either their driver’s license number or a voter registration number.

<\/p>\r\nSponsors of the bill did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday, but critics said the measure, if passed, would confuse voters and increase the chances that their ballots would be thrown out for minor errors. It would also make mail-in voting harder for minority voters, thousands of whom do not have driver’s licenses.

<\/p>\r\n“Driver’s license possession is skewed towards wealthier and white voters,” said Ryan Snow, an attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, who said voting needs to be treated as a right, not a privilege. “This new restriction will have a disproportionately higher burden on minority groups, which is very concerning.”

<\/p>\r\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"National\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tNational Congress of American Indians (@NCAI1944) on X\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

Our statement on President Biden\u2019s Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting and the establishment of an Interagency Steering Group on Native American Voting Rights. Read the statement: https:\/\/t.co\/xdqojhpyTG<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"X\t\tX (formerly Twitter)\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nSnow also said that under the mail-in voting bill, SB 1713, enrolled members of Native American tribes who can now use their tribal ID<\/a> as a valid form of identification at a polling place would be prohibited from using it to vote by mail.

<\/p>\r\nAaron Payment, the vice president of the National Congress of American Indians, called the proposed mail-in voting requirement little more than “the haves wanting to prevent the have-nots from receiving the American Dream.”

<\/p>\r\n“Wealthy people have been filling out absentee ballots for a long time now, the privileged class has been doing it for generations,” Payment said Monday. “Now that lower-income and people of color are doing it and we’re watching politicians complain about it while they cast their absentee ballot.\u2026 It\u2019s a special brand of American politics.\u201d

<\/p>\r\nBut, in Washington, witnesses and lawmakers at the House subcommittee hearing differed on the impact tighter election security laws have on voter access.

<\/p>

<\/ins>