GOP-Led States Grab for More Control Over Election Disputes
24 laws give politicians sway over counting, a trend enabled by the Supreme Court last week
Demonstrators protest outside of the Georgia Capitol building to oppose a voting bill in Atlanta on March 3.
Photographer: Megan Varner/Getty Images
New limits on who can vote and how in the U.S. drew the most attention as Republicans rewrote voting rules after losing the presidential election. But a subset of those bills threatens to expose the ballot counting itself to an unprecedented level of partisan politics.
In Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp signed a measure increasing state lawmakers’ control of the election board. Arkansas shifted oversight of complaints from county clerks and local prosecutors to a mostly Republican group of appointees. Iowa gave its elected secretary of state more oversight over county officials and created criminal punishments for infractions like failing to maintain voting lists properly.