Government

The GOP Objects To Charges Of Voter Suppression? Have They Tried *Not* Suppressing The Vote?

Voldemort and Pol Pot would like a word...

By  
on

“We don’t like the construct of that narrative,” sniffed an unnamed Republican National Committee Official this morning to Politico’s Anita Kumar.

And then Mr. Anonymous RNC raced to the courthouse to request another emergency injunction closing down ballot drop boxes. Probably.

“That narrative” would be that the GOP is working overtime to deny Americans access to the ballot and invalidate as many votes as possible. And it’s understandable that the Republican party would object to accusations that it’s engaged in a wholesale effort to thwart the exercise of democracy. But if they didn’t want to be called the party of vote suppressors, they could always quit doing everything in their power to suppress the vote!

Just last night the Trump campaign managed to convince one of the ABA-rejects Trump appointed to the Eight Circuit to order Minnesota to set aside ballots postmarked November 3 but received after the polls close so the RNC can sue to get them thrown out later. We’re no longer even pretending this is an effort to protect electoral integrity by weeding out fraudulent ballots and demanding ID at the polls — this is purely an exercise in rejecting votes.

The Eighth Circuit took its lead from the ascendant conservative wing of the Supreme Court, which three times this week signaled that it’s ready and willing to swoop in and toss out late-arriving ballots if the GOP thinks it might put Trump over the top.

Republicans have filed upwards of a dozen suits, in places as diverse as Michigan, Iowa, New Jersey, and Nevada to prevent universal access to mail in ballots.

They’ve litigated in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Ohio over ballot drop boxes.

Sponsored

The president himself gave up the game in March, complaining to his pals at Fox & Friends that early voting would kill the GOP. “They had things — levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” he whined.

So the party dutifully sued to limit early voting. And to force people to vote in person during a pandemic. And to allow GOP-leaning seniors to vote by mail without an excuse, but no one else.

For pity’s sake, Republicans in Texas are in court right now trying to get votes already cast in drive-through polling stations in Harris County tossed out.

And if that wasn’t clear enough, here’s Donald Trump reminding the Supreme Court Justices that they will rue the day if they allow Joe Biden to become president. As one does at 3am.

Sponsored

And if that’s too subtle, the RNC itself bragged back in May that it had earmarked $20 million dollars for pre- and post-election litigation.

So, no, we’re not crying sad tears for “that narrative” that the Republicans’ main electoral strategy is vote suppression.

If the foo shits …

Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

Topics

, , ,