What a voter restriction bill will mean for Arizonans

Yesterday, debates over changes to the state’s early voting list were more heated than most. We talked with Representative Reginald Bolding about it. He played a big part in the debate. He has spent a lot of time-fighting over many voting restriction measures.

First, we talk with Bolding about his response to the Chauvin trial verdict. He said he thinks it was justice served for this country. For many years he has seen month after month, shootings of an unarmed African-American man, “or in this case a death,“ Bolding said. He explains that this country has to start to heal and has to start creating solutions.

He said that you start doing this by first having justice served in court. He believes this did happen with the verdict. He said he did not try to guess the jury’s decision, but that it was surprising.

We also discussed the reaction that he saw at the capital, and if it will change the dynamic as far as policing bills. He said no, but “the way that you start to change the system is by ensuring that justice is served.” Bolding believes that if there are consequences that come with the killings and shootings of the victims, that is when you start to see a policy change.

We talked about the changes being proposed and how they affect people of color and their voting rights. He said senate bill 1485 is one of the biggest injustices that they have seen there regarding integrity and rights in decades, in Arizona. Bolding said this bill would remove up to 150,000 voters from the permanent early voting list.

He said that this will make the voters end up going to the polls. He also explained that since they have already decreased pulling locations, there will be long lines. Many of the voters will not even know that they are removed from the list until it is election time, he said. He said that it is simply about winning, and not about election integrity or security.

Republicans say that the move is to keep the list accurate and up-to-date. Bolding said they are wrong. He said they are wrong because of the widespread turnout that they saw in 2020. Bolding said that the election was fair, even though his Republican colleagues were not happy with the turnout. Lastly, we talk about if the Governor will support the bill.