Arizona is back to being the laughingstock of the U.S.

It has been said that state legislatures are the labs of democracy; Jon Stewart famously described the Arizona Legislature as the "meth lab of democracy."

He was correct.

From The Hill -

Arizona bill would allow legislature to overturn election results

An arch conservative member of Arizona’s state House of Representatives has proposed a mammoth overhaul of the state’s voting procedures that would allow legislators to overturn the results of a primary or general election after months of unfounded allegations and partisan audits.

The bill, introduced by state Rep. John Fillmore (R), would substantially change the way Arizonans vote by eliminating most early and absentee voting and requiring people to vote in their home precincts, rather than at vote centers set up around the state.

Jeremy Duda of the AZMirror wrote it up approximately 12 hours earlier -

The newest GOP election proposal would allow lawmakers to reject election results

It would also do away with on-demand early voting and require ballots to be counted by hand — in 24 hours

Lawmakers would have the power to reject election results under a sweeping piece of legislation that would make seismic changes to the way elections are conducted in Arizona. 

Rep. John Fillmore’s House Bill 2596 would eliminate no-excuse early voting, which is used by the overwhelming majority of Arizona voters, and would require that all ballots not only be counted by hand, but that those tallies be completed within 24 hours of the polls closing on Election Day, among other changes.

Perhaps the biggest change, however, is that the legislature would be empowered to accept or reject election results in legislative, congressional and statewide races. Under the proposed law, the legislature would be required to call itself into session after an election to “review the ballot tabulating process.” Once that review is completed, lawmakers would decide whether to accept or reject the results. If the legislature rejects the results, any qualified voter can go to court to ask a judge to order a new election.

 

Fillmore's bill is here; it's a long bill, 35 pages long, and the stuff about the legislature overturning elections is on page 33.

I *did* mention this bill in my post about Fillmore's candidacy for the Legislative Loon Award, but I have to admit that I didn't read the entire thing and missed the language about the legislature.

My mistake, and lesson learned.