Anti-Abortion Crusaders Have a New Way to Keep the Question Away From Voters
SlateWith more ballot initiatives ready to go before voters, supporters of reproductive rights are hoping to continue their impressive winning streak. But conservatives looking at what just happened in Arkansas are hoping they’ve found a way to stop the bleeding: by using obscure rules favored by election deniers to keep voters from weighing in on reproductive rights in the first place. In July, ALG submitted more than 100,000 signatures in support of its proposal—well more than what was needed to meet the state threshold, but the secretary of state rejected roughly 14,000 signatures because the group hadn’t simultaneously filed a document certifying the names of paid canvassers and confirming that they had been trained on the relevant election rules. Georgia’s election board recently passed new rules dictating that election results be certified only after a “reasonable inquiry.” A separate rule required election officials to verify vote totals before certain types of ballots would count. Related From Slate Trump’s Latest Abortion Comments Expose the Bind He’s In Conservatives’ use of obscure election laws has now expanded to go after abortion ballot initiatives.