EJ MONTINI

Montini: Debunking Ducey’s bogus rant on voting delays

EJ Montini
opinion columnist
Governor Doug Ducey

Wait…Gov. Doug Ducey, who signed into law what clearly (to me, anyway) was a voter suppression bill, is acting holier-than-thou over the long delays at Tuesday’s election?

How is that possible?

Because this is Arizona.

Hypocrisy is how we roll.

At least politically.

Remember House Bill 2023? It made it a Class 6 felony (with a potential year in jail and a fine of up to $150,000) if a person other than a family member or caregiver delivers an early ballot?

The bill was passed with no evidence of voter fraud.

Just the opposite.

There was evidence that a lot of perfectly legitimate votes were being delivered by well-organized citizens willing to help some of their neighbors fulfill their right to cast ballots.

Democrats were better at this than Republicans, however. So the Republicans who control the Legislature voted to make it illegal. And Gov. Doug Ducey signed it into law.

“This bill ensures a secure chain of custody between the voter and the ballot box,” Ducey said at the time. “We join 18 other states in this common-sense approach to maintaining the integrity of our elections.”

Actually, both common sense and integrity were lacking in that decision, just as they were lacking in Tuesday’s election.

And, really, isn’t that what the governor and his pals were hoping for?

Fewer voters?

More trouble getting ballots to the polls?

Still, after the huge public outcry over the horror that was Election Day (and probably worried that people would blame the state instead of Maricopa County) Ducey issued a statement that read:

“Voting is one of our most important rights and responsibilities, and yesterday, a record number of Arizonans turned out to cast their choice for president. I’m glad to see so many Arizonans step up to make their voice heard for the candidate of their choice. However, it’s unacceptable that many of them had to battle incredibly long lines. Our election officials must evaluate what went wrong and how they make sure it doesn’t happen again.

"One way we can fix things is to simplify them. That means allowing independents to vote in presidential primaries, just as they vote in all other Arizona primaries. A big part of yesterday's problem was registered voters showing up, and being told they couldn’t vote. That's just wrong. If people want to take the time to vote they should be able to, and their vote should be counted."

Exactly.

So why make it illegal to facilitate that process?

After all, the good citizens delivering someone else’s signed and sealed ballot were doing just what Ducey claims to believe in.

Why make them felons?

And the voters who handed over those ballots to be delivered had taken the time to vote.

Why keep them from being delivered?

It's like the governor said at the end of his statement: "Their vote should be counted."