Arizona Republican State Senators Paul Boyer and Michelle Ugenti-Rita, killed a number of election integrity bills on Monday. Many of the bills they killed were part of a broader effort to improve and restore confidence in Arizona’s election process.
The obstructionist duo went so far as to kill a bill, sponsored by fellow Republican Senator Kelly Townsend, that merely requires anyone who logs in to any election system, except for an electronic pollbook, to have a unique password, so that auditors or inspectors would know who was logged in and doing things on election systems.
. @PaulDBoyer kills a bill that would require passwords to be unique on tabulation equipment@MichelleUgenti votes No also – – – hoping this means we will see it back
This bill is very simple and the language was modified to serve the counties#SB1359
— Merissa Hamilton 🗳 ⛽🗽 (@merissahamilton) March 14, 2022
Boyer has pledged to kill nearly every election integrity bill this legislative session as part of his defense of the 2020 General Election results.
The chair of the Republican Party, Kelli Ward, implied on Twitter that the duo were compromised and that their votes were bought and paid for by the political establishment:
Keep your eyes open AFTER the legislative session to see what rewards Boyer and Ugenti-Rita get from the swamp for killing #ElectionIntegrity bills in the Senate…
— Dr. Kelli Ward 🇺🇸 (@kelliwardaz) March 14, 2022
Boyer is leaving office instead of sticking around for a primary battle with Trump-endorsed opponent, former State Representative Anthony Kern. But Ugenti-Rita is running for Secretary of State, and is in need of major financial and institutional support to revive her flagging campaign.
Further cementing Boyer’s obstruction is his alignment with the Maricopa County officials who claim the system is essentially perfect, and who believe that any improvements are a concession to those who doubt former President Trump lost Arizona in the 2020 General Election.
The following election bills were killed by Boyer and/or Ugenti-Rita, when they joined with all of the Democrats to vote NO: SB1055, SB1609, SB1056, SB1360, SB1465, SB1577, SB1359, SB1457, SB1476, SB1570, and SB1572.