PHOENIX — The Arizona Senate has voted down an election bill that critics deride as an attempt at voter suppression, but the measure could come back at a later date.
The measure failed Thursday because of infighting among Republicans. Republican Sen. Kelly Townsend of Mesa joined all Democrats in opposing the bill.
She said she supported it but wants to see the Legislature be far more aggressive in shoring up election integrity.
Democrats say the measure could harm poor people and voters of color, groups that tend to vote for Democrats.
Earlier this month, faith leaders in Arizona and across the nation decried the bill and others like it.
"It is very much in a part of our tradition, as Christians, to be engaged in the public square," said the Rev. Dr. Eric Ledermann, pastor at University Presbyterian Church in Tempe, Arizona, after the event outside the Statehouse.
"When people say, 'Let's not get political in the church' — Jesus was very political," Ledermann said. "He was engaged in how his culture, his community was being shaped, and who was being left out of the decision-making process."
