Gov. Doug Ducey just gave election deniers the ammo they wanted for 2022

Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey doesn’t need to claim the presidential election was illegitimate to help the MAGA crowd.

He did it with House Bill 2492, which requires proof of citizenship to vote for president.

Never mind the that new law, which will take effect 90 days after the legislative session ends – and just before the November mid-term election – is clearly unconstitutional.

The forthcoming court battle seems to be part of the governor’s strategy to test this new voting restriction before the super-majority conservative U.S. Supreme Court. More on this later.

The bigger deal now is that HB 2492 gives the Make America Great Again crowd ammo to claim they are fighting for election integrity, a narrative that goes in tandem with their lies that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

“Election integrity means counting every lawful vote and prohibiting any attempt to illegally cast a vote,” Ducey said in a statement explaining why he signed HB 2492.

Ducey, MAGA both want Republicans to win

That rhetoric sounds familiar, right? It comes straight from the MAGA crowd, which has been peddling lies of election fraud and wasting taxpayers’ money with their bogus audit of Maricopa County ballots.

The MAGA crowd isn’t exactly a fan of Ducey because he’s among those who certified the 2020 election results. He is not their useful fool.

Ducey is smart and measured. He operates in a separate lane than that of the MAGA crowd. But both have the same objective of keeping Republicans in power – even the most despicable ones like Sen. Wendy Rogers, whose antisemitic and racist impulses got her censured by her colleagues.

HB 2492 plays right into the Stop the Steal movement, which is keen on using every tool available to tilt the outcome in their favor in November.

“Only US citizens are entitled to vote in our elections. Obvious, right? As usual, it’s not,” Kelli Ward, the chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party and a driving force behind the bogus audit, said on Twitter. “So glad it (the bill) got signed & will become law! #2492 #ElectionIntegrity.”

Would a conservative court rule differently?

HB 2492 requires proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections for president and Congress. It’s aimed at those who have registered using a federal form, which only requires them to swear under perjury that they’re U.S. citizens.

Arizona has required proof of citizenship for state and local elections since 2004. It has tried and failed to do the same for federal races.

In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Arizona’s efforts to impose the proof of citizenship requirement that is outlined again in HB 2492.

The court is different now.

Most of the justices are conservatives, and no doubt Republicans like Ducey are banking on their political ideology to convince them to tighten voting restrictions that would ultimately give Republicans the advantage.

It will take time to weed through the lawsuit filed by Mi Familia Vota against HB 2492. Arizonans shouldn’t expect to immediately be required to comply.

Still, this is a big win for Ducey and the MAGA crowd because they can use the law to keep promoting the notion that there’s rampant election fraud. There is not. Otherwise, they’d have already proven those claims.

This doesn't threaten democracy. It kills it

HB 2492 is just part of the Republican plan to make it a lot more difficult to vote because they are angry Trump lost and haven’t been able to overturn the election.

They want to get rid of mail-in voting, shortening early voting, expand voter ID laws, and eliminate automatic and same-day voter registration. The list goes on.

We all know that only U.S. citizens can vote, and we also know they aren’t necessarily tripping over each to do it. There’s a reason why the 2020 election cost more than $14.4 billion.

Yes, billions were spent convincing U.S. citizens to register to vote and actually cast a ballot. You’d think no money was needed if everyone – even non-citizens – were so eager to vote.

But no. Voting restrictions are aimed squarely at keeping certain people, mainly the poor and minorities who tend to vote for Democrats, from casting a ballot.

In theory, proving citizenship, providing voter ID or voting in person isn’t a big deal. In reality, though, that’s a huge burden for Americans who rely on public transportation, live in remote areas or who can’t take time off from work on Election Day.

Only fools refuse to see the Republicans’ sinister plan to restrict voting and keep themselves in power. Making it difficult to vote doesn’t threaten democracy. It kills it.

Elvia Díaz is an editorial columnist for The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gov. Doug Ducey gave election deniers the ammo they wanted