3/25/21
National Republican groups are working to drive the state-by-state GOP efforts to limit voting -- offering guidance to the state lawmakers drafting laws to restrict ballot access, deploying grassroots activists to key battlegrounds and raising millions of dollars to block efforts by Democrats in Congress to establish a national baseline for voting rights. Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, has publicly committed to spending at least $10 million to "secure and strengthen state election systems." And guidelines sent out earlier this year by the Heritage Foundation -- including extending identification requirements to absentee voting and barring third-party groups from collecting voters' absentee ballots -- have emerged in bills now racing through the Legislature in Georgia and other statehouses. Organizations ranging from the libertarian-leaning advocacy group FreedomWorks to the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List also have jumped into the voting rights battle this year. The involvement of national groups shows that efforts to restrict voting in dozens of states "are not a coincidence," said Hillary Holley, organizing director of the Georgia-based voting rights group Fair Fight Action. "This is a strategic imperative that's well-funded."
The Republican-controlled House in Georgia is slated to vote Thursday on a package of voting changes that include limiting ballot drop boxes, requiring identification for absentee ballots and making it a misdemeanor to give food or soft drinks to voters waiting in line to cast their ballots. Officials with Heritage Action say roughly 20,000 of its activists are working on the ground in the state to encourage its passage. In all, more than 40 states were considering bills that include voting restrictions as of mid-February, according to the liberal-leaning Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. Since then, more have joined in. On Wednesday, Republican lawmakers in Michigan -- another presidential battleground -- introduced a package of 39 election bills. They include new voter ID requirements and a ban on prepaid postage for absentee ballots. Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly made false claims that widespread voter fraud contributed to his defeat last November, and Republican lawmakers have cited an erosion of public confidence as a key reason they are racing to tighten voting laws.