Make no mistake. The Republican Party is the party of voter suppression. Instead of being party of American ideals and good ideas that can persuade voters to trust them with our future, it became the party that blocks as many voters as possible from making their voice heard. The Democrats want you to vote, even if you disagree with us. We want to make it as easy to participate in the system without unnecessary barriers.
 |
| H/T to /u/1mjtaylor |
Republicans have different ideas about the most fundamental right of all Americans. They close polling places in populated areas, in minority areas (Kansas erased the only polling place in a Hispanic-majority city), and on college campuses (see Boone in 2016). They limit the availability of early voting, reducing hours and even closing on the weekends (no Sunday voting?!?). They kick people off the voter rolls for little reason (of 53k voter denials, 70% are black) like saying someone moved because they didn’t send back in a nondescript postcard. They push for voter ID laws but then severely limit the allowable ID’s (picking ones that minorities are less likely to have as in NC with near surgical precision) or make them more difficult to obtain. Free IDs might be free, but it costs a person working 2 minimum wage jobs a day off work. If you live in a black community they are probably shutting down the nearest DMVs (see Alabama). They actively send out misinformation to voters telling them the wrong dates for the election or that you can vote by text message. They send out fundraising letters that look like official voter mail to scam old people into donating to their campaigns. And they ruthlessly gerrymander districts to create safe districts for themselves, effectively allowing legislators to pick their voters instead of voters picking the legislators (In the 2017 blue wave election in Virginia the Democratic governor won by 9 points, but the House of Delegates only broke even). In at least 2 states, the person in charge of protecting the elections is the person running for governor (Georgia and Kansas) as more of the scams become evident.
Today, the Republican party claims that counting your vote is fraud. They can't win without cheating.
