WASHINGTON (AP) - All but lost in the shadow of major contests for U.S. Senate and governor, voters in some battleground states will be deciding ballot proposals this November that could reshape the way they vote in the next presidential election.In Arizona, scene of the closest presidential contest in 2020, the question is whether to require more identification to vote in the future.
In Michigan, another swing state, voters will consider whether to make it easier to cast early ballots.Voting-related proposals will be on the ballot in several other states, including a measure to adopt ranked-choice voting in Nevada that — if approved this year — would need a second vote in 2024 to take effect."Most of the measures are garnering little attention but could have profound effects on voting in some of the most politically competitive states for years to come.
They mark an escalation of what voting expert Jon Sherman describes as "the voting wars" — battles between Democrats, Republicans and activist groups over laws specifying how people register, obtain mail-in ballots, prove their identity and cast ballots."The parties and their allies are fighting over every last voting rule and trying to make predictions about how they think it will help or hurt their chances of winning, particularly in closely competitive states," said Sherman, litigation director and senior counsel at the Fair Elections Center, a nonprofit that advocates for voting access.Efforts to change voting laws ramped up after the 2000 presidential election, when a U.S.
Supreme Court decision in Florida's exceptionally close race gave Republican George W. Bush the victory over Democrat Al Gore.