# I Pit the ID-demanding GOP vote-suppressors (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 12, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943 "2012-06-12T19:15:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 554
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11061 "2020-04-09T23:53:20Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Are you planning on losing the House too? Maybe I don’t know exactly how that process works. Last time I looked the Republicans currently have a majority of state delegations. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11062 "2020-04-10T13:31:19Z")
Here in PA they’re allowing vote by mail for the primary and I assume the general. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11063 "2020-04-10T13:48:59Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Here’s a tricky moral dilemma for me. Part of me wants to give Republicans a little credit in the self awareness department for knowing and recognizing that they can’t win fair elections, and that the voice of the people is not on their side. > But another part of me doesn’t. > I know, if I gerrymander my brain into lopsided segments maybe that will help me decide. Why can’t it be both? The rank and file R’s have been convinced that immigrants, the poor, and the coloreds are coming for their freedom and are cheating at the ballot box to do so – nothing else makes sense, because true Americans are losing ground! How could this happen except by cheating??? The leadership R’s, capable of reading polls and understanding demographics, know that only by convincing red voters that voting rights must be curtailed _ **in their best interests** _ will they maintain power. Fascism 101 folks. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11064 "2020-04-10T22:22:50Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Why can’t it be both? The rank and file R’s have been convinced that immigrants, the poor, and the coloreds are coming for their freedom and are cheating at the ballot box to do so – nothing else makes sense, because true Americans are losing ground! How could this happen except by cheating??? > > The leadership R’s, capable of reading polls and understanding demographics, know that only by convincing red voters that voting rights must be curtailed _ **in their best interests** _ will they maintain power. > > Fascism 101 folks. Yep. But you left out what i saw no less than three times yesterday: “The Dems want those people to come here illegally and drop their anchor babies so the whole clan can come here and they’ll all live on the taxpayer’s dime forever.” Uh, “anchor baby” hasn’t actually been a thing since, at the latest, the early 1980s. Minors cannot sponsor anyone into the country. And just because you have an American citizen sponsor, anyway, does not guarantee a visa, nor are undocumented aliens eligible for financial assistance from the government. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11065 "2020-04-10T22:54:01Z")
Dear god, can we just start a new fucking thread already? ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11066 "2020-04-12T23:22:14Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Last time I looked the Republicans currently have a majority of state delegations. Thanks…apparently I don’t know how the process works. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11067 "2020-04-13T01:15:47Z")
What happened in Wisconsin is disgraceful. It is nothing less than an act of bioterrorism committed by the Republican party against American citizens. Voter suppression with extreme prejudice. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11068 "2020-04-13T01:51:58Z")
[Virginia governor makes Election Day a holiday and expands early voting](https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/12/politics/virginia-election-day-holiday-early-voting/index.html) > [@](#): > > Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Sunday that he signed a series of new measures into law aimed at expanding access to voting in the commonwealth. > > The new legislation will establish Election Day as a holiday, remove the requirement that voters show a photo ID prior to casting a ballot and, expand early voting to be allowed 45 days before an election without a stated reason. I’ve heard, but can’t confirm, that the measures included automatic voter registration when getting a driver’s license. Good first steps. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11069 "2020-04-13T01:58:48Z")
Yep, voters in Northern Virginia have saved the state from Republican tyranny. If only voters in other states could do the same. Unfortunately, the GOP is ahead of them, having gerrymandered the hell out of many states. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11070 "2020-04-13T02:17:07Z")
Voters in WI who thought they had voted by mail might not have after all: > **[Thousands of Wisconsin ballots could be thrown out because they don’t have a...](https://www.vox.com/2020/4/11/21217546/wisconsin-ballots-postmark-supreme-court-rnc-dnc)** > > Ballots must be postmarked by Election Day, but many ballots don’t have a postmark at all. > [@](#): > > Thousands of Wisconsin ballots could be thrown out because they don’t have a postmark > > Ballots must be postmarked by Election Day, but many ballots don’t have a postmark at all. > **[Letter carrier: why absentee ballots without postmarks should count •...](https://wisconsinexaminer.com/briefs/letter-carrier-why-absentee-ballots-without-postmarks-should-count/)** > > The president of the Wisconsin Association of Letter Carriers explains why abentee ballots that arrived a day or two late with no postmark should be counted > [@](#): > > “The Supreme Court adding that requirement — first of all, it’s not in the state statute, and a lot of people had mailed their ballots already. So many municipalities meter their mail, and they don’t get a postmark. So that would be a problem.” In short, Wisconsin’s supreme court has knowingly attempted to help the GOP rig an election. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11071 "2020-04-13T16:42:54Z")
and I imagine that by some amazing coincidence those municipalities that don’t postmark their mail just happen to be predominantly Democratic. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11072 "2020-04-14T00:38:10Z")
Despite the best efforts of the Republicans, [Liberal challenger Jill Karofsky wins a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.](https://www.vox.com/2020/4/13/21219284/jill-karofsky-wisconsin-supreme-court?utm_campaign=vox&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter) > [@](#): > > Liberal challenger Jill Karofsky has won a 10-year term to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeating Trump-backed conservative incumbent Dan Kelly, according to our partners at DecisionDesk. As of Monday evening, Karofsky had raked in roughly 53 percent of the vote to Kelly’s 47 percent, when the race was called. Ya see, the thing about vote-suppression, is that once it becomes obvious it really motivates those being suppressed. Lefties are _pissed_, and have been coming out in greater numbers than previous years, ever since November 2016. ETA: [Here’s the new measures signed by Northam in Virginia, alluded to earlier](https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/all-releases/2020/april/headline-856055-en.html) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11073 "2020-04-14T01:41:00Z")
Fuckwad Wisconsin Republicans risked peoples’ lives to suppress turnout and keep that Supreme Court seat. Fuckers lost anyway. How many lives will be lost because of their recklessness? ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11074 "2020-04-14T01:54:55Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Fuckwad Wisconsin Republicans risked peoples’ lives to suppress turnout and keep that Supreme Court seat. Fuckers lost anyway. How many lives will be lost because of their recklessness? We’ll know in a couple of weeks - I’m expecting new clusters in Wisconsin by then. I suppose a class-action wrongful death lawsuit is too much to hope for… ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11075 "2020-04-14T10:39:44Z")
Marc Elias, a voting rights attorney, opines that the Republican’s stunt in Wisconsin could backfire a whole lot more bigly than it already has. [The GOP’s push to block voters in Wisconsin backfired spectacularly — and could cost them the 2020 election: voting rights attorney](https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/the-gops-push-to-block-voters-in-wisconsin-backfired-spectacularly-and-could-cost-them-the-2020-election-voting-rights-attorney/) > [@](#): > > But as Democratic voting rights attorney Marc Elias pointed out on Monday evening, Republicans’ potential loss goes beyond the Supreme Court seat. Their push for the federal courts to block voting created a ticking legal time bomb for Republicans that could pave the way for a huge expansion of voting rights in several key states — and put their chances of re-electing President Donald Trump in serious danger. (Article quotes a twitter thread by Marc Elias explaining his thinking.) ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11076 "2020-04-14T13:00:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Marc Elias, a voting rights attorney, opines that the Republican’s stunt in Wisconsin could backfire a whole lot more bigly than it already has. > > [The GOP’s push to block voters in Wisconsin backfired spectacularly — and could cost them the 2020 election: voting rights attorney](https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/the-gops-push-to-block-voters-in-wisconsin-backfired-spectacularly-and-could-cost-them-the-2020-election-voting-rights-attorney/) > > (Article quotes a twitter thread by Marc Elias explaining his thinking.) Of course, you are assuming that SCOTUS will respect a ruling that they just made. No guarantee of that, although if Roberts is in ‘defend the court/my legacy’ mode, it might. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11077 "2020-04-14T13:09:42Z")
The Republicans hope to achieve one of two things with their suppress the vote thuggery: ideally, they hope to steal the 2020 election outright, but if they can’t do that, then their backup plan is to claim that the vote was illegitimate. And if you think right wing politics is disruptive now, we’ve probably not seen anything yet. The Republicans were long ago out of ideas. 2013 was their opportunity to have a “Come to Jesus” moment and step toward being a part of inclusion and democratic transparency; instead they doubled down, tripled down on ‘tea partyism,’ which beget Trumpism, which will eventually dissolve and become something even worse than it is now. Trump is the symptom of the disease but not the disease. What’s horrifying about Trump is that he is so utterly ridiculously cartoonishly corrupt and inept, and yet he is still the sociopathic right wing’s pitch man. Eventually, they will need a new pitch man because he won’t be stiff enough for these loons. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11078 "2020-04-14T19:48:34Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > Despite the best efforts of the Republicans, [Liberal challenger Jill Karofsky wins a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.](https://www.vox.com/2020/4/13/21219284/jill-karofsky-wisconsin-supreme-court?utm_campaign=vox&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter) > … Damn this makes me happy! ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11079 "2020-04-16T10:56:11Z")
[This article](https://newrepublic.com/article/156861/republican-voter-suppression-tactics-trump-2020) is a must-read. It mentions malicious anti-voter tactics by the GOP dating back to the 1970’s; tactics were so egregious that the RNC was forced to submit to a consent decree in 1982. (John Roberts was one of the young Republicans planning ways to harass D voters.) For example, Republicans entrenched themselves in precinct polling stations as ‘monitors’ and > [@](#): > > Once the poll monitors had set up shop, they soon began, in the language of the complaint, “disrupting the operations of polling places, harassing poll workers, stopping and questioning prospective voters, refusing to permit prospective voters to enter the polling places, ripping down signs of one of the candidates, and forcibly restraining poll workers from assisting, as permitted by state laws, voters to cast their ballots.” They also hung posters in and around polling places that read, in bright red ink: “Warning: This Area Is Being Patrolled by the National Ballot Security Task Force: It Is a Crime to Falsify a Ballot or to Violate Election Laws.” The posters offered a $1,000 reward for any information about illegal voting. Nowhere did they say that they had been paid for by the GOP, as federal election law required. _ **That 1982 consent decree was allowed to expire by a federal judge in 2018.** _ The GOP is now free to resume voter intimidation, etc. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/11080 "2020-04-22T11:01:28Z")
Damn Wisconsin! > **[Milwaukee Documents Seven Coronavirus Cases Linked to In-Person Voting](https://theintercept.com/2020/04/20/milwaukee-coronavirus-voting-election/)** > > One poll worker and six others in Milwaukee have tested positive for coronavirus in cases linked to the April 7 election, the city health commissioner said. > [@](#): > > THE CITY OF Milwaukee has identified seven positive coronavirus cases linked to in-person voting on April 7, according to a city health official. These voters are heroes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=553) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=555)