Majority of Arizona voters support election reform: poll

A majority of Arizona voters support election reform and are in favor of reforming the Senate filibuster to pass such a bill, according to a new poll.

The survey, conducted by the left-leaning Public Policy Polling and commissioned by End Citizens United and Let America Vote Action Fund, found that 66 percent of Arizona voters polled support the Freedom to Vote Act.

The legislation, which Senate Republicans blocked in October, would make Election Day a national holiday, create minimum standards for early voting and voting by mail, set standards for states requiring voter identification, establish new requirements for disclosing who is behind online ads and seek to stop partisan gerrymandering.

Fifty percent of Republicans polled, and 54 percent of independents polled, said they support “voting and elections legislation that ends dark money, stops partisan gerrymandering, thwarts election sabotage, and protects the freedom to vote for all Americans.”

Fifty-five percent of Arizona respondents said they would be more likely to vote for a senator who backed the legislation, as opposed to 19 percent who said they would be less likely to.

Centrist Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) is among those who has expressed opposition to filibuster reform, including in the name of passing Democratic priorities such as voting rights protections.

The new polling numbers come as Democrats are looking to reinvigorate their push for federal voting rights legislation in the new year. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told colleagues this week that the chamber will shift focus to voting rights legislation rather than President Biden’s climate and social spending package.

For months, however, Democrats have been unable to pass voting rights legislation due to opposition from Republicans and internal party battles regarding Senate rules.

Sinema told students last month that she supports the Freedom to Vote Act, though she has remained steadfast in her opposition to amending or eliminating the filibuster.

The Public Policy Polling survey found that 57 percent of voters surveyed were in favor of reforming the filibuster, including 48 percent of independents and 39 percent of Republicans.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said the threat of election sabotage is driving their support to reform Senate rules, including 42 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of independents.

The poll surveyed 523 Arizona voters between Dec. 27 and Dec. 28. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.