VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Arizona Democratic Party Chair Raquel Terán On How To Defeat GOP Voter Suppression Bills

Arizona Democratic Party Chair Raquel Terán spoke with uPolitics to explain the state’s GOP efforts to restrict voter rights in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, which saw the state turn blue for the first time in decades.

Arizona Republicans are currently attempting to pass through the state legislature a raft of bills that would severely restrict voting options. “The action is in the reaction … Both chambers have seen many bills that are anti-democracy bills creating restrictions to access the ballot box as well as accessing the initiative process,” Terán told uPolitics Founder Erik Meers. “We are seeing bills that would purge a person from the permanent early voting list. If someone doesn’t vote in a primary through their early ballot, they could get purged from the permanent early voting list.”

Terán explains that the permanent early voting list ought not be tampered with. “We have been using this system to assure that communities who usually don’t come out and vote access the ballot box,” she noted.

Arizona House Republicans hope to prohibit same-day voter registration and automatic voter registration. Terán explained that Arizona doesn’t currently have same-day or automatic voter registration, but that Republicans are acting in anticipation. “We know that the Republicans know once we modernize our election system, more people are going to register to vote and more people are going to come out to vote,” she said. “Regardless if it helps their party, because what we’ve seen is when we have access to the ballot box it’s healthy for everybody.”

Terán lamented that she and her party are fighting for basic democracy while her state “has yet to execute a good strategic plan for COVID-19 relief.”

The state GOP’s has even recently attempt to give the legislature the right to throw out presidential election results and instate their own electors.

“It’s a powergrab,” said Terán. “It would take the power from the voters of Arizona and give it to the state legislature. We are not taking anything for granted. The extreme agenda is in full flourish at the state legislature. It’s not only on democracy bills.”

Article by Brandon Mumei