It outlines a vision that would transform voting from a fundamental democratic right to a complicated, rule-bound process accessible only to
Yunior Rivas at Democracy Docket:
Cleta Mitchellâs anti-voting group released a sweeping new âmodel lawsâ handbook Thursday that urges lawmakers and election officials to severely restrict mail-in voting, eliminate same-day voter registration, conduct mass voter challenges and empower officials to deny and delay certification. The release by the Election Integrity Network (EIN) marks a dangerous escalation from one of the most influential election denial operations in right-wing politics. It outlines a vision that would transform voting from a fundamental democratic right to a complicated, rule-bound process accessible only to those who can navigate a maze of requirements.Â
Cleta Mitchellâs anti-voting group released a sweeping new âmodel lawsâ handbook Thursday that urges lawmakers and election officials to severely restrict mail-in voting, eliminate same-day voter registration, conduct mass voter challenges and empower officials to deny and delay certification. The release by the Election Integrity Network (EIN) marks a dangerous escalation from one of the most influential election denial operations in right-wing politics. It outlines a vision that would transform voting from a fundamental democratic right to a complicated, rule-bound process accessible only to those who can navigate a maze of requirements.Â
âToday, Election Integrity Network releases the Model Election Laws Handbook,â wrote Mitchell, the lawyer who joined President Donald Trumpâs infamous call pressuring Georgiaâs chief election official to âfindâ enough votes to overturn Joe Bidenâs 2020 victory, in a post on X. âThis is the culmination of 5 years of work by hundreds and hundreds of election integrity volunteers, leaders, and experts from across the country.â The handbook is framed as a state-by-state legislative guide for âelection integrity.â But its proposals are rooted in the same distrust of elections and conspiracy-laden claims about fraud, noncitizen voting and corrupt election officials that have animated the GOPâs anti-voting push since 2020.
âWhat has become clear is that those who oppose election integrity really want corruption of our elections,â Mitchell wrote in a letter accompanying the handbook. âOurs is a binary choice when it comes to election policy: choose either election integrity vs. corrupt, inaccurate, and insecure elections.â EINâs influence makes the handbook more than a fringe document. Several Trump administration appointees and federal officials with election-related roles have direct ties to Mitchellâs network Mitchell and EIN call the handbook a plan to ârestoreâ election integrity. But for voters, election workers and democracy advocates, its most extreme proposals point in another direction, fewer voting options, more rejected ballots, more surveillance of voters, more opportunities for mass challenges and more power for officials to deny legitimate election results. The extensive handbook translates the election denial movementâs wish list into model legislation that lawmakers, local officials and activists can copy into state law. EIN says the document is meant for âstate lawmakers, election administrators, and citizen advocates,â and provides language to âselect complete bills or individual sectionsâ and combine them into state proposals.
The result is a far-reaching roadmap to make voting harder and election administration more vulnerable to partisan interference. One of the most alarming proposals would redefine election certification â the formal step where officials sign off on election results â as a discretionary act. That means officials could claim they have the power to refuse or delay certification if they say they have unresolved concerns.
[...] It calls for limiting early voting to no longer than seven days and restoring Election Day as the main voting period. It also calls for repealing no-excuse absentee voting â the policy that allows voters to cast absentee ballots without having to provide a qualifying reason. Trump has called for the same rollback of mail voting. âNo-excuse absentee voting is repealed,â the handbook states. âAbsentee voting shall be permitted only for voters who meet ⊠verifiable categories.â The proposal would also ban drop boxes, prohibit permanent absentee voter lists and reject all mail-in ballots that arrive after polls close on Election Day, even if they were sent and postmarked before the deadline.
[...] The document also targets election technology, showcasing the election denial movementâs growing obsession over voting machines and electronic systems. It calls for banning touchscreen voting machines, direct-recording electronic devices and ballot-marking devices. It also calls for prohibiting electronic pollbooks as the primary check-in system at polling places and early voting sites. Finally, the handbook contains provisions explicitly aimed at some of the countryâs most vulnerable voters. It proposes that homeless voters not be allowed to register or vote at shelters or resource centers, requiring them instead to use election offices or government facilities.
âHomeless voters shall not be required or permitted to register or vote at an advocacy center, homeless shelter, or partisan organizationâs office, in order to minimize potential undue influence and to preserve neutrality in the voting environment,â the handbook states. For voters in nursing homes, hospitals and other care facilities, the handbook calls for special voting deputies to be deployed, review identification documents and observe voters inserting completed ballots into security envelopes.
Election Integrity Network, led by far-right election denier Cleta Mitchell, releases model laws for states to enact severe voter suppression measures such as sharply curtailing VBM, eliminate same-day voter registration, impose rigorous ID requirements, conduct mass voter challenges, and empower officials to deny and delay certification.
