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Poll workers help voters get ready to cast their ballots on Nov. 3 in Atlanta. State lawmakers are now considering legislation that could roll back some laws that made it easier for voters to cast ballots by mail. Megan Varner/Getty Images hide caption

Poll workers help voters get ready to cast their ballots on Nov. 3 in Atlanta. State lawmakers are now considering legislation that could roll back some laws that made it easier for voters to cast ballots by mail.

After an election that saw record voter turnout, with many of those voters casting their ballots early and by mail, some Republican state lawmakers are proposing a wave of new voting laws that would effectively make it more difficult to vote in future elections.

The proposals come in the aftermath of the unprecedented onslaught of disinformation about the conduct of the 2020 election by former President Donald Trump and some of his allies in the Republican Party.

"Some folks bring these proposals forward and say, 'Well, we just need to address confidence in our election systems,' when it's some of those very same people, or at least their allies and enablers, [who] have denigrated our election system by either telling lies or at least leveraging or relying on other people's lies to justify some of these policies," said Steve Simon, Minnesota's Democratic secretary of state, at a news conference organized last week by the Voter Protection Program.

A recent analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice found that 106 bills have been filed by Republican lawmakers in 28 states that would restrict voting (the group also found 406 bills in 35 states that would expand voting access). Many of the bills would limit voting by mail, add new voter ID requirements, make it more difficult to register voters and give states greater leeway to purge voter files if voters don't consistently cast ballots in every election.

"Some of them are for show; some of them have to be taken more seriously," said Trey Grayson, a former Republican secretary of state in Kentucky, at the same news conference.

Some of the most sweeping proposals come in Arizona and Georgia, where President Biden won narrowly but where Republicans control all levers of the state government.

Georgia

Georgia sustained the brunt of Trump's efforts to overturn the election results, including direct pressure on top state Republicans to erase Biden's 11,779-vote win. Democrats also went on to win by close margins two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia's Jan. 5 runoff election.

If all the proposals announced by Republicans in the Georgia Senate last week became law, future elections in the rapidly changing state would look dramatically different.

If enacted, only a small subset of Georgians currently able to vote absentee by mail would be eligible to do so, and those who qualify would have to submit some sort of photo ID with their application, either online or on paper. They would not be allowed to get an application from outside groups and could return ballots only through the mail or by delivering them in person to the county elections office. If someone moves to Georgia or moves within the state, the person would have to remember to opt in to having the Department of Driver Services update their voter registration. If they relocate to Georgia after a November general election, they wouldn't be able to participate in a runoff.

Some of the lawmakers proposing the bills spent the past few months making baseless claims of voter fraud in Georgia's elections.

Democrats and their allies have denounced the proposed bills.

"This unhinged set of voter suppression bills from a radical Senate Republican leadership appears intended to appease conspiracy theorists like those who stormed the Capitol last month," said Seth Bringman, spokesman for the voting rights group Fair Fight. "The bills are unnecessary by Republicans' own assessments of the 2020 election and designed to limit access and help Republicans stop losing elections in Georgia. Republicans wrote Georgia's election laws, but they were humiliated on Nov. 3 and Jan. 5, so they are seeking to silence Georgians, particularly communities of color, who exercised their power to change Georgia."

Arizona

Voters at a polling location on Nov. 3 in Eloy, Ariz. Arizona lawmakers are considering a number of measures, including one that would allow the state legislature to ignore voters' wishes and award the state's electoral votes itself. Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images hide caption

Voters at a polling location on Nov. 3 in Eloy, Ariz. Arizona lawmakers are considering a number of measures, including one that would allow the state legislature to ignore voters' wishes and award the state's electoral votes itself.

In Arizona, where a record number of voters cast ballots last fall, primarily by mail, Republicans legislators have used the backdrop of misinformation and doubt to propose dozens of bills that critics warn would make it harder to vote in the future and easier to challenge election results.

Those include direct attacks on Arizona's ballot-by-mail system. Most Arizonans opt to receive an early ballot in the mail and then have the option to mail it back or hand-deliver it to collection sites, county election headquarters or polling places. One bill would abolish the state's permanent early-voting list, though the sponsor walked it back within hours. He is still pushing legislation that would require early-ballot envelopes to be notarized.

Another bill would allow voters to receive ballots by mail but would bar them from mailing the ballot back, and any ballots returned by mail would no longer be counted.

Beyond bills that affect how Arizonans vote, other legislation would directly impact the results of presidential elections.

By law, Arizona's 11 Electoral College votes are awarded to the winner of the popular vote statewide. One bill pushed by a GOP lawmaker would divide up electors by the state's nine congressional districts, similar to how electors are awarded in Maine and Nebraska. But instead of awarding two at-large electors to the winner of the popular vote, the Republican-controlled legislature would assign those electors to its preferred candidate.

Another separate proposal by GOP Rep. Shawnna Bolick would allow the legislature to simply override the will of the voters by allowing legislators to overturn the certification of presidential electors by a simple majority vote at any time before the inauguration.

The bill was introduced on the heels of calls by some legislative Republicans to appoint electors for Trump, despite the state's voters choosing Biden. In a statement, Bolick defended the bill as a "democratic check and balance."

"The mainstream media is using this elections bill as clickbait to generate misleading headlines. This bill would give the Arizona Legislature back the power it delegated to certify the electors," she said.

Michigan

Election workers count absentee ballots for the 2020 general election on Nov. 4 at TCF Center in Detroit. Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Election workers count absentee ballots for the 2020 general election on Nov. 4 at TCF Center in Detroit.

In Michigan, another swing state that Biden won amid record voter turnout, Republican lawmakers have held more than 26 hours of oversight hearings about the administration of the 2020 elections.

In a recent hearing, Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum urged lawmakers to "acknowledge that the Big Lie was just that a lie," adding, "I would ask that you announce to the public what you know to be true of all of these hearings: that the Nov. 3, 2020, election was fair and free of fraud. Repeating the false claims that have been disproven time and time again will do nothing but continue to weaken the faith in our elections."

Yet key Republicans, including state Rep. Matt Hall, who hosted a hearing with Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, continue to argue, "The trust in our elections process has been shaken, and it must be restored."

As far as reforms go, there is widespread agreement that the state was unprepared for the massive increase in absentee voting that was driven by the coronavirus pandemic and new state voting laws. But Democrats and Republicans disagree on what needs to happen next.

Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced in early February that she'd like to mail absentee ballot applications to all registered voters in advance of federal elections, allow early processing of absentee ballots and ban open-carry firearms within 100 feet of polling places.

But it's unlikely that Republicans will be eager to pass any of Benson's reforms. Republican Rep. Ann Bollin, chair of the state House Elections and Ethics Committee, said, "If her goal is truly to work together in a bipartisan manner, I can't imagine why she would continue to bring up emotionally charged policy proposals that have already been struck down by the courts."

While Benson's decision to mail absentee ballot applications in 2020 was repeatedly labeled as illegal by Republican Party operatives and targeted by the president, two lower courts ruled in Benson's favor, saying she acted legally in sending applications. However, it's unlikely Republicans like Bollin who control the legislature would enshrine that process in law. Possible areas of common ground in election reform include more training for poll challengers and election workers and early processing of absentee ballots.

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After Record 2020 Turnout, State Republicans Weigh Making It Harder To Vote - NPR

Rep.-elect Ron Wright, R-Texas, attends a new member welcome briefing in the Capitol Visitor Center on November 15, 2018.

Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Republican Rep. Ron Wright of Texas died weeks after contracting Covid-19, his office said Monday. He was 67.

Wright, who took office in 2019, died Sunday. He had undergone treatment for lung cancer after it was diagnosed in 2018.

He and his wife, Susan, were hospitalized in Dallas for two weeks prior to the congressman's death while fighting the disease. The congressman, whose district included Arlington, announced he tested positive for Covid-19 on Jan. 21.

"As friends, family, and many of his constituents will know, Ron maintained his quick wit and optimism until the very end," Wright's office said. "Despite years of painful, sometimes debilitating treatment for cancer, Ron never lacked the desire to get up and go to work, to motivate those around him, or to offer fatherly advice."

Wright is the first sitting member of Congress to die after contracting Covid. Luke Letlow, a Louisiana Republican elected to the House in November, died a month later from Covid-19 complications, before he took office.

At least 71 representatives and senators have been diagnosed with Covid, according to GovTrack. More than 27 million people nationwide have contracted the disease, and it has killed more than 463,000 Americans.

Texas will eventually hold a special election to choose Wright's successor in Texas' 6th District, which sits in Tarrant County outside of Dallas.

Wright's death means Democrats now have an 11-seat advantage in the House. There are four vacancies in the 435-member House, including Letlow's 5th District in Louisiana.

Wright's final vote was against impeaching former President Donald Trump on a charge of provoking the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to the House clerk. He also voted in support of objections to counting Pennsylvania and Arizona's electoral votes last month.

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Republican Rep. Ron Wright of Texas is first sitting member of Congress to die of Covid - CNBC

WASHINGTON - Donald Trump is no longer in the White House, but the former U.S. presidents influence is still keenly felt on Capitol Hill, where the Jan. 6 rioting by his supporters has created deep divisions within the Republican party.

House Republicans met Wednesday to decide the futures of two members of their caucus on opposite sides of the debate over Trump: Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking Republican leader in the House, and freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has expressed support for far-right conspiracy views including those of QAnon.

At issue were whether to strip the pro-Trump Greene of her committee assignments or remove Cheney from the Republican leadership team for her vote to impeach Trump. Those decisions will force a reckoning on whether Republicans remain loyal to Trump and his supporters or move away from his influence.

In a 145-61 vote, House Republicans opted to keep Cheney in her role.

It was a very resounding acknowledgment that we need to go forward together and that we need to go forward in a way that helps us beat back the really dangerous and negative Democrat policies, Cheney said after the vote.

Ten House Republicans voted with Democrats on Jan. 13 to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last month. Cheney the only woman on her party's leadership team was the highest-ranking Republican to vote for impeachment. She released a statement so strongly condemning Trump that it was cited by Democratic House impeachment managers in their trial brief.

None of this would have happened without the President, Cheney wrote in a Jan. 12 statement assigning blame for the riot at the Capitol that left five people dead, including a police officer, and temporarily stopped the counting of Electoral College votes that showed Democrat Joe Biden the winner of the November election.

The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution, she said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has been meeting privately with Greene to discuss Democrats outrage following the revelation of her social media posts advancing numerous conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, mass school shootings, as well as her liking a Facebook post calling for the execution of Democratic leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.

Greene has said her social media posts are managed by several people and that she does not see all of them. In a tweet Wednesday, Greene responded to these allegations, writing that Democrats are only set out to destroy Republicans, your jobs, our economy, your childrens education and lives, steal our freedoms, and erase Gods creation. Earlier this week, Greene said she had spoken with Trump and had his continuing support.

House Democrats, who control the chamber, have taken the unusual step of filing a resolution that would strip Greene of her committee assignments, denying her one of the most important responsibilities a lawmaker can fulfill.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters Wednesday the action was necessary because she has placed many members in fear for their welfare and she has attacked and made incendiary remarks prior to but also during her term as a member of Congress with respect to the safety and welfare of the Speaker of the House.

Hoyer added that Democrats believe she also gave aid and comfort to those who led an insurrection.

The full House could vote as soon as Thursday on removing Greene from those assignments. I spoke to Leader McCarthy this morning and it is clear there is no alternative to holding a Floor vote on the resolution to remove Rep. Greene from her committee assignments, Hoyer said in an earlier statement.

In a debate clearing the resolution for a floor vote, Republican Rep. Tom Cole called Greenes comments deeply offensive and absolutely repugnant but argued the matter would be better handled as an ethics matter.

The push by the Democrats to punish Greene has put McCarthy in a tough position, having to decide whether to stand by Greene, whom Trump has praised as a rising star in the party, or punish her in response to demands from Democrats and some in his own party.

He said late Wednesday that the days meetings produced unity among Republican members, and that Greene rejected her previous statements.

We denounce anything that we've seen that was said in that past from anything with QAnon has no place in our party, and Marjorie Greene actually said that inside our conference today, McCarthy said.

The controversies over Greene and Cheney come as the Senate is poised to begin an impeachment trial of Trump for inciting the insurrection at the Capitol. Trump is the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice and will be the first to undergo an impeachment trial after leaving office.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell took the unusual step of commenting on House matters earlier this week, not naming Greene in a statement but saying loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country.

Describing the Capitol riot last month, McConnell said, The mob had been fed lies by the president and other powerful people. A conviction of Trump in the Senate trial is unlikely since 17 Republicans in the chamber would need to vote along with all 50 Democrats to reach the two-thirds majority needed. Last week, 45 of the 50 Senate Republicans voted in favor of a resolution calling the impeachment trial of a former president unconstitutional.

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Will Republicans Remain the Party of Trump? - Voice of America

Texas Rep. Ron Wright, a 67-year-old Republican from Arlington, died Sunday from COVID-19, according to a statement from his congressional office. He is the first sitting member of Congress to die of the virus.

Wright and his wife, Susan, had been admitted to Baylor Hospital in Dallas two weeks ago after testing positive.

Today I am deeply saddened by the loss of a good man and one of my closest friends in Congress, Ron Wright, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, an Austin Republican, said on Monday.

Roy said Wright has been battling cancer and felt like he was on the rebound.

The last text I got from Ron was just over a week ago, Roy said. He said still in hospital. But definitely improving.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Like the rest of America, COVID-19 has placed strains on Congress as leaders have sought to still get the publics work done by altering long standing rules and procedures to try to limit the spread of the disease.

Wrights last vote, according to the House Clerks Office, was against impeaching President Donald Trump on Jan. 13. Wright was listed as not having voted in all of the 14 roll call votes from that day through Feb. 5.

In late January, Wright announced he had COVID-19.

I am experiencing minor symptoms, but overall, I feel OK and will continue working for the people of the 6th District from home this week, Wright said at the time. I encourage everyone to keep following CDC guidelines and want to thank all the medical professionals on the front lines who fight this virus head-on every single day.

Over 50 members of Congress have reported testing positive for the virus. Luke Letlow, a congressman-elect from Louisiana, died late last year.

The Democrat-controlled House began offering emergency proxy voting and remote hearings in May. And in November, Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed for more testing of members of Congress who are frequently traveling back and forth between their home districts and Washington, D.C.

But some members have pushed back against some of the rules, including not wearing masks. During the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, members were sheltering in place as a violent mob stormed the building. Some House Republicans refused to wear masks even as members were clustered together in close quarters. After that event, several members quarantined and U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson, a New Jersey Democrat, tested positive.

Pelosi released a statement on Monday noting that Wrights death comes at a time when so many families have been forced to bury loved ones.

As we grieve Congressman Wrights passing, Members of Congress are united in sorrow and pray for the families and loved ones of the over 460,000 Americans who have been killed by the vicious coronavirus, she said. Each death is a tragedy that breaks our hearts and demands strong, urgent action.

Wrights death also comes as Congress is once again facing a stalemate over a third round of COVID relief. President Joe Biden has rolled out a $1.9 trillion package that calls for direct checks, money for school reopenings and funds for a robust vaccine effort. But Republicans have balked at the price tag.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, lauded Wright for his passion in fighting for conservative causes.

For Ron, public service was more than a job, it was a calling, McCarthy said. The difference he was able to make over the past two decades will continue to live on in every life he impacted.

Wright has been in Congress since 2018 after serving previously as the Tarrant County tax assessor-collector. Before that, he served as a city councilman in Arlington from 2000 to 2008. The 6th Congressional District he represented includes southeastern sections of Tarrant County and reaches south into Ellis and Navarro counties.

Congressman Wright will be remembered as a constitutional conservative, a statement from his office said. He was a statesman, not an ideologue. Ron and Susan dedicated their lives to fighting for individual freedom, Texas values, and above all, the lives of the unborn.

Wright won the seat after former U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, a Republican, did not seek re-election after nearly two decades in Congress. Wright had served as a district director of Bartons congressional office and was Bartons chief of staff before he was elected as the tax assessor-collector.

Other members of Congress from Texas have battled COVID-19 recently. U.S Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, announced in early January he had tested positive for the virus, as did Rep. Kay Granger of Fort Worth. U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, last year was among those infected with the virus.

Texas has seen about 2.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 38,100 people have died in the state. While Texas lab-confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations have dipped some since January 11, when the state reported a peak of 14,210 lab-confirmed patients; the state still reported over 9,400 people in hospitals statewide with the virus as of Monday night.

The last member of Congress from Texas to die in office was U.S. Rep. Frank Tejeda, a San Antonio Democrat, who died in 1997 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

State law requires Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to set a special election to select a person to replace Wright in Congress.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com

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Texas Republican Ron Wright is first member of Congress to die from COVID-19 - Houston Chronicle

The American public has given President Biden favorable reviews since he took office last month, and the policies that he is hurrying to put in place appear broadly popular, according to polls.

And notably, as he signs a wave of executive actions and pushes a major $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, Mr. Biden is facing muted opposition from Republicans so far a reflection of the partys weakened position as it juggles two increasingly divided factions.

I think that Republicans have found Biden to be much more progressive than they thought he was going to be, but I think were too busy trying to kill each other to really focus on it, said Sarah Chamberlain, the president of the Republican Main Street Partnership, a group of centrist Republicans that includes more than 60 members of the House and Senate.

This week, the Houses G.O.P. caucus met to discuss the fate of two lawmakers representing opposite ends of the partys identity: Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the chambers No. 3 Republican. Ms. Greene is one of the chambers most fervent loyalists to former President Donald J. Trump, while Ms. Cheney is pushing to unlink the party from his brand of populism.

The result of the meeting on Wednesday was a kind of stalemate, with the Republican leadership allowing Ms. Greene to keep her committee assignments despite a history of offensive and conspiracy-minded statements, and Ms. Cheney comfortably retaining her top position against a mutiny from Trump allies. On Thursday, the entire House voted to strip Ms. Greene of her committee positions over widespread G.O.P. opposition.

This intraparty division gives Mr. Biden the upper hand as he pushes his legislative agenda forward, said Doug Schwartz, the director of polling at Quinnipiac University, which released a nationwide poll on Wednesday. Hes advocating policies that have solid support in the public, so Republicans are in more of a defensive posture, as theyre opposing popular policies, Mr. Schwartz said.

The publics dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in the United States remains high: Roughly seven in 10 said they were unhappy with the way things were going, according to the Quinnipiac poll. But optimism is on the rise, and many are attaching their hopes to the new president. When asked about the coming four years under Mr. Biden, 61 percent of Americans described themselves as optimistic.

In a Monmouth University poll released last week, 42 percent of Americans said the country was headed in the right direction considerably less than half, but still more than in any Monmouth poll going back to 2013.

The Quinnipiac survey found that more than two-thirds of Americans supported Mr. Bidens coronavirus relief package, with wide majorities also backing certain key elements including a permanent increase to a $15 minimum wage and a round of $1,400 stimulus checks to individuals. On the question of the stimulus payments, even 64 percent of Republicans supported them.

On a range of other Biden policies, the poll found widespread support: rejoining the Paris climate accord, opening a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and ending Mr. Trumps ban on travel from some predominantly Muslim countries.

The New Washington

Feb. 9, 2021, 3:44 p.m. ET

It bears mentioning that pollsters across the country undercounted support for Mr. Trump in November for the second straight time; until survey researchers complete a full post-mortem analysis of 2020 polling, it will be impossible to rule out the possibility that some polls may still be missing a share of his supporters.

Still, in general, the smart Republicans are trying to pick their battles, said Robert Cahaly, a Republican pollster in Georgia who has worked with candidates in both the partys populist wing and its establishment.

Mr. Biden, for his part, will be looking to capitalize on Republicans compromised position. In the end, America wanted a president that was more empathetic, but people do not want a president that looks weak, Mr. Cahaly said.

But he and other Republican strategists cautioned that if Mr. Biden moved too hastily on legislation that was seen as left-leaning, he could face a backlash from some of the disaffected Republicans who supported him in November. Ms. Chamberlain said that if Mr. Bidens environmental policies were perceived as harming the economy, he could find himself in a hole. I think you let them pass laws left and right, and then you expose them for what they are, Ms. Chamberlain said of her suggested strategy for Republicans.

Americans are not holding their breath for a new dawn of bipartisanship. Just 21 percent of respondents in the Monmouth poll said they were highly confident that Mr. Biden would be able to persuade lawmakers in Washington to work together more. Another 39 percent were somewhat confident.

While Mr. Biden receives favorable job reviews over all, 16 percent of Americans in both the Monmouth and Quinnipiac polls said they hadnt made up their minds. Many of these people are onetime G.O.P. voters who lost faith in the party under Mr. Trump and are waiting to see how Mr. Biden governs, said the longtime Republican pollster Whit Ayres.

Basically, the approval numbers on Biden are the disapproval on Trump, Mr. Ayres said. But the disapproval numbers on Biden are lower than the approval number on Trump which suggests there are some people who are hanging back to see what he does.

And there is evidence that those who are hanging back are giving him the benefit of the doubt. In an Associated Press/NORC poll released on Thursday, in which respondents were pushed to give an answer, his approval rose to 61 percent. Thirty-eight percent disapproved.

Opinions of the Republican Party, meanwhile, are much darker.

In the Quinnipiac poll, 64 percent of Americans said the G.O.P. was moving in the wrong direction, including an overwhelming 70 percent of independents and 30 percent of Republican partisans, according to the Quinnipiac poll.

The partys rank and file is now heavily tilted toward the Trump faithful. The Trump base is so big as a share of the party because so many of my type of Republicans have left the party, said Ms. Chamberlain, the head of the centrist group. But they want to come back to the party.

These staunch pro-Trump Republicans express deep frustration with their representation in Washington. Most G.O.P. voters continue to think the vote in November was rigged, echoing Mr. Trumps false claims, and many are irritated that legislators in Washington were not able to keep him in power.

Partly as a result, only 50 percent of Republicans said they were satisfied with G.O.P. lawmakers in Washington, according to the Quinnipiac poll. Thats down from 83 percent among Republican voters nationwide in a Quinnipiac survey a year ago.

Two people can both look at the same house and dislike it, but for different reasons, Mr. Cahaly said. Theres just an element of Republicans that want their old party back and hate the new populism. Then there are Republicans who like the idea of this being a working persons party and wish the old Republicans would just go be Democrats. This fight is going to take place in primaries, in town halls. This party is in a little bit of a civil war.

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Bidens Policies Are Popular. What Does That Mean for Republicans? - The New York Times