Elections chief stiffed because she’s a Democrat?
Don’t worry if Russia or anyone else decides to meddle with Arizona elections, because state Republicans have it all figured it out.
This week, the Republican-controlled Legislature stripped $1.375 million out of Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ election services budget. Of course, the Republican governor signed off on it. The cut includes $750,000 in Help America Vote funds, which counties use for election security measures,
The Arizona Republic reported. Hobbs, a Democrat and former lawmaker, still vowed “to ensure that our elections are secure and carried out fairly and accurately.”
But let’s say Hobbs can’t stop the Russians — known for hacking and interfering with elections in the United States, as independent counsel Robert Mueller has concluded. Let’s say that despite her efforts she can’t stop anyone else from meddling in Arizona elections. Not to worry.
State Republicans thought about that, too, and gave the Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich $530,000 for a “voter fraud unit” to investigate election integrity issues.
Are you kidding me? This is nothing more than a punch in the gut to Hobbs.
Why would they do it? Because they can.
There is no other logical explanation to strip the Democrat in charge of election of needed money and then give a good chunk of it to a Republican to investigate “voter fraud” — which, by the way, doesn’t exist.
This is so wrong on so many levels. First, the Russian threat of interfering in elections in the United States is real. Mueller’s investigation, for instance, conclusively determined that the Russians interfered with the 2016 presidential election.
Sure, we don’t know where, when or if the Russians may strike again. And we certainly don’t know if anyone else is getting similar ideas. But election officials in Arizona and across the country can’t take any chances.
Stripping Hobbs of that money makes no sense — other than sticking it to a Democrat. But hey, thumbs up to Republicans for not hiding their disdain and rebuke of Hobbs. They made that abundantly clear when they gave that chunk of money to investigate “voter fraud.”
Never mind there is no evidence of voter fraud. Ryan Anderson, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s office, told The Republic as much. But hey, they’ve got to spend the money somehow, so they’ll hire four people to investigate non-existent voter fraud.
It’d be easy to laugh this off. After all, this could be seen as nothing more than business as usual — Republicans sticking it to a Democrat because they can.
But elections are serious stuff. God forbid somebody really does decide to meddle with our elections. Would anyone still be laughing this off?
Would anyone still think this is a good idea to strip the state’s election chief of any money only because she happens to be a Democrat?