Our election systems should be fair, secure, and above partisan politics

Everybody loses when politicians try to undermine our democracy., and unfortunately the Arizona legislature spent this last legislative session working to change and undermine the integrity of our election systems.

Instead of focusing on important issues such as affordable housing and addressing skyrocketing costs of living, the legislature spent its time creating more unnecessary restrictions around voting that hurts all Arizonans – especially for folks who often have the hardest time voting, like people in rural communities, seniors, and members of the military.

Most of us, no matter our background, want America to be a place where freedom is for everyone. In America, voters pick our leaders—leaders do not get to pick their voters. But here in Arizona, our legislature spent the session making it harder for all of us to vote, and giving politicians the power to tamper with vote counts and overturn the will of Arizonans. That goes against everything we believe as Arizonans.

Because no matter who we vote for, we can all agree that the integrity of our elections is critical to our democracy. What we don’t need are more barriers disguised as solutions that would infringe on our fundamental freedom to vote and give politicians the power to overturn our election results.

But unfortunately, that’s exactly what Senator J.D. Mesnard did this past session by supporting bills that make it harder for all of us to exercise our fundamental right to vote.