Arizona Governor Signs Voter Suppression Bill

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has signed a controversial election bill, HB 2305, that will suppress the right to vote, restrict citizens' use of the initiative process and limit voter choice by making it more difficult for third parties to run candidates for office.

The measure is an extreme overhaul of the state's voting law. The governor's office said that concerns that voters will be disenfranchised were "overblown."

Among the changes is the purging of the state's early voting rolls. Any who didn't use an early voting ballot in the November 2012 elections faces being dropped from the early voter list.

The measure lowers the number of signatures needed for Republicans and Democrats to quality for statewide and legislative races, but dramatically increases the number needed for third parties like the Green party and others. Republicans in Arizona and other states believe that limiting the votes received by Libertarian Party candidates will boost the election of Republican candidates.

The bill makes it a crime for volunteer political workers and organizations to collect early ballots from voters and take them to polling places. The Democratic Party and voter advocacy groups have provided this service to voters for many years, at voters' choice.

It also includes new, stricter requirements for citizens' initiatives.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out an Arizona requirement that prospective voters document their U.S. citizenship in order to use a "Motor Voter" registration form.