Lone GOP State Senator Stops Arizona Bill to Limit Automatic Mailing of Absentee Ballots in ‘Temper Tantrum’

Breitbart ^ | 23 Apr 2021 | MICHAEL PATRICK LEAHY

[Mount Athos]

The Republican-controlled Arizona State Senate failed to pass an election integrity bill that tightens the rules for maintaining lists of voters who automatically are mailed absentee ballots Thursday when State Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-16) surprised her colleagues by joining with all 14 Democrats who voted no when the bill came to the floor.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, said on the floor it was “disappointing to be on the receiving end of someone’s temper tantrum.”

Townsend said she wouldn’t vote on any of the other proposed election changes until after the audit was completed, and complained that her own election bills had died in the committee.

“Absolutely I’m upset about all of my election bills — dead. Absolutely, I’m upset. You want to see a temper tantrum? I can show you one if you really want to see it,” she said.

Late Thursday, Heritage Action released a statement from Vice President of Government Relations and Communications Garrett Bess, in which he said Townsend’s “no” vote on SB 1485 was “a short-sighted attempt to draw attention to other election bills which failed to pass out of committee.”:

[familyop]

Looks like Kelly should find another kind of job.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Female hormones at work.

[InterceptPoint]

$Temper $Tantrums are really not a good thing. But there are $Exceptions to that rule.

[Mr. N. Wolfe]

There always seems to be enough rogue Republicans to enable the Democrats to win. If it wasn’t Senator Townsend, it probably would have been some other Republican senator.

She probably idolized John McCain.

[HighSierra5]

Textbook example of why there needs to be a new party. Or a complete purge of the Repukeleans.

[joshua c]

and the check cleared

[AlmaKing]

Why were Townshend’s bills killed in committee?

[HYPOCRACY]

They were written on the mirror in lipstick.

[Gene Eric]

Well that was a cunning stunt.

[DrPretorius]

The evidence of GOPee perfidy builds every day for those with eyes to see. GOPee Delenda Est!

[HandBasketHell]

Textbook example of why there needs to be a new party. Or a complete purge of the Repukeleans.

Purge the RINOs.

Why should WE leave the party? The infrastructure is already there, and the GOP belongs to the VOTERS, not these RINO traitors.

Vote out every RINO who must face a primary in 2022 and replace them with conservative patriots. Rinse and repeat every 2 years until the GOP is represented by WE THE PEOPLE.

[USS Alaska]

The report that I read has Kelly as wanting more strict rules, but the bill is not dead, just stalled.

The head of the senate also voted no, so in the weird rules of their senate they can bring it back up in this session.

[Midwesterner53]

I did not realize the GOP majorities were that thin in AZ.

[Bookshelf]

Arizona politics in a nutshell.

[Beowulf9]

Federal Election Day is a fixed day, Why isn’t early voting and mail-in voting unconstitutional? People began voting in the 2020 presidential election more than a month before Election Day, while candidates were campaigning until the last second. Why not change election to a weekend and have only in-person voting....eg, vote. 5am to 10 pm on Saturday and on Sunday and announce the results on Monday or maybe on election Tuesday . No mail in or early voting except very limited reasons. No dead people or dementia patients or vagrants using some ballot harvesting social worker’s address with no ID and no registration on Election Day or at the polls and no voting without an id and signature verification or even more

[Organic Panic]

NEVER trust a woman with a hyphenated last name.

[central_va]

The Democrats never do this.

[SunkenCiv]

...

[John Dias]

I went to Sen. Townsend's Twitter account to hear her rationale & it does appear sound. She'll vote for the bill. But if the Senate adjourns BEFORE the audit is done, any bills it passes afterward will not apply to the 2022 election. The audit outcome should prompt a legislative remedy.

Here's the post where she says that:
https://twitter.com/AZKellyT/status/1385323391448616969?s=20

Excerpt:

"Today I voted no on SB1485, the PEVL bill. I am supportive of the bill, but I informed leadership and the caucus that I was a no on election related bills because we are in the middle of an audit and there is talk of the Senate voting Sine Die in 2 weeks. Once we vote Sine Die and go home, we will not be able to fix any issues prior to the next primary election."