Grand Canyon Times

When Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) took to social media in May to condemn the conservative policy advocacy organization Heritage Action of supporting "voter suppression" in Arizona and elsewhere, proponents of the new voting laws pointed out that Rhode Island is one of several states in the Northeast with significantly restrictive voting measures of their own.

"We know @Heritage_Action as a dark money, climate-denial operation," Whitehouse tweeted in May. "We see Heritage in the dark money court capture operation, filing anonymously funded briefs. Now they turn up in voter suppression, the latest dark money operation to attack and degrade our democracy." 

In May, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed legislation that he said would uphold the integrity of elections, protect Arizona voters and simplify the voting process.

Democratic and progressive critics argue that the only reason Arizona Republicans pushed for voting changes is that former President Donald Trump became the first GOP presidential candidate to lose the state since 1996. After losing Trump issued unfounded claims of massive voter fraud. 

Under Senate Bill 1485, the state's list of early voters who automatically receive early ballots will be updated to remove voters who have not returned an early ballot within the previous four years and don't respond to a final notice asking if they still want to receive an early ballot.

Heritage commended the bill's passing among other election security bills, releasing a statement. 

“Heritage Action applauds the Arizona Legislature for prioritizing election integrity and passing several important pieces of legislation that will make it easier to vote and harder to cheat in the state of Arizona,” the group said. “Each of these bills strengthens Arizona’s elections, ensuring that the process is secure and transparent. We thank the Arizona legislators who voted to secure their state’s elections and Gov. Ducey for signing these important bills into law.”

Conservative critics said Whitehouse's allegations of voter suppression are questionable in light of his own state's voting policies.

Vote 411 says Arizona allows for no-excuse absentee voting, and sends out absentee ballots 27 days before Election Day. According to the First State Times, Arizona does not allow ballot harvesting, voting by felons, the reception of mail-in ballots after Election Day, automatic voter registration, or same-day voter registration. Additionally, Arizona mandates that voters must show photo ID or two forms of non-photo ID to cast a ballot.

By contrast, Rhode Island is among many Northeastern states that limit the time in which opponents can rally a base through policies that prevent most early voting. According to an Atlantic opinion piece from Russell Berman, “Democrats who have won election after election in states such as New York, Delaware, Connecticut, and Rhode Island have had little incentive to change the rules that helped them win.”

With the exception of New York, all these states have far smaller populations than Arizona.

Berman adds that Rhode Island enacted a substantially restrictive voter ID law 10 years ago with support from “powerful black elected leaders.” 

The state also requires two witnesses when submitting an absentee ballot. Rhode Island Democrats have discussed repealing the requirement that absentee ballots have two witness signatures and expanding voting by mail and early voting, but they are unlikely to amend the voter-ID system.

Rhode Island and Arizona are among the 36 states requiring voters to show a form of identification at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

A NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll shows that 79% of respondents believe voters should be required to show government-issued photo identification whenever they vote.