# The Republican War on Voting Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 11, 2021, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723 "2021-03-11T17:30:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/201 "2021-04-15T19:16:00Z")
I’ve had the same thought as the article – particularly the attempts to reign in absentee and early voting seems like a double-edged sword for Republicans. They’re basing it off one very anomalous election where proportionately more Democrats voted using these methods. But the blue collar whites who make up more and more of the Republican vote have as much trouble as others finding time to go vote during the middle of a working day. And plenty of retirees who spend all day watching Fox News vote absentee. That’s why some of the more insidious aspects of Republican voting “reform” seek to shift responsibility for verifying votes away from local precincts and into (Republican controlled) centralized bodies. That way even if Democrats overcome the hurdles to actually get their votes properly submitted, the new overseers can find just enough “irregularities” to make sure they get the outcome they want. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/202 "2021-04-15T20:35:13Z")
Red state legislators are simply going to refuse to accept certification of results from heavily blue counties. That’s what they _wanted_ to do last year. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/203 "2021-04-15T23:32:46Z")
It’s starting to look like Rural right wing voters are going to have full and total control after they simply throw away the votes from anyone living in a city. Things are going to get ugly I predict. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/204 "2021-04-16T06:52:31Z")
Biden needs to seriously prioritize this issue post-haste before it really begins to metastasize. To address it on a more escalated level, I can only think of, offhand, is for him to simply mention it a LOT more, make it apparent - in more announcements - that it’s a bigger threat to democracy than even when Trump was in office; to drum up as much media buzz as humanly freaking possible on this - maybe they can get themselves in a lather over something worthwhile, for once - and with four-alarm-bell urgency, making it apparent that democracy, now, is truly, increasingly, at stake. Sure, he called it sick and Un-American in his first news conference, but that was almost a month ago. He needs to whip it up again, like, yesterday. And ramp it up. Like, blitzkreig the fuck out of this. And as **flurb** has mentioned, this GOP tacitc could backfire to some degree. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/205 "2021-04-16T12:29:13Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > And as **flurb** has mentioned, this GOP tacitc could backfire to some degree. It may, and I hope that it does, but it seems to be the only tactic they have left. The have identified the problem, and the problem is that people vote against them. Rather than convince them to change their minds through policy or governance, they seek to eliminate dissenting voices at the polls. It’s not a terrible strategy on their part. The remedy for bad governance is to vote them out. There is no legal remedy for disenfranchisement. ---
**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 16, 2021, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/206 "2021-04-16T13:07:43Z")
And there is no remedy for trying to align themselves with law enforcement and trying to radicalize them, so that they can be used as their praetorian guard. Wouldn’t surprise me if a new tactic becomes recruiting sheriffs and cowboy LEOs to run for office. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/207 "2021-04-16T13:26:05Z")
True, as well as getting them to intimidate/harass the “wrong people” trying to vote. ---
**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 16, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/208 "2021-04-16T16:18:29Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > The have identified the problem, and the problem is that people vote against them. Rather than convince them to change their minds through policy or governance, they seek to eliminate dissenting voices at the polls. Delving a little deeper than that the problem is that they along with the help of right wing media have engaged in a feedback loop that is preventing any possibility of reform. Originally the GOP pushed fear and loathing because it got ratings and ampped up the base for the general election. All was good. But as they trained their base to expect fear and loathing, they started losing some of the middle ground, which moved the average party member further to the right. Which meant in order to win the primary they had to run further to the right. Which further cost them middle voters concentrating the fear and loathing even further. Until now when no one to the left of a General Ripper, Bull Connor love child can hope to win the nomination, and such a person has no chance in the general. So even if the Republican leadership wanted to deradicalize the party and return to the mainstream there is no way for them to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/209 "2021-04-16T16:51:28Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > So even if the Republican leadership wanted to deradicalize the party and return to the mainstream there is no way for them to do so. And the obvious solution to that particular problem is to simply make sure that they get control over which votes are counted. This will not end well. ---
**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 16, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/210 "2021-04-16T18:16:16Z")
Excellent analysis, and spot on. I think it’s really central to understanding how an authoritarian movement starts within a democratic system. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/211 "2021-04-21T14:03:05Z")
**In some states, Republicans alter election laws, even after winning** Because, you know, they _can_ > [@](#): > > When it comes to Republican efforts to roll back voting rights, much of the recent national focus has been [on Georgia](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/georgia-republicans-are-pushing-dozens-election-integrity-bills-black-voters-n1259687), and for good reason: GOP officials in the state [deliberately made it harder](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22368044/georgia-sb202-voter-suppression-democracy-big-lie) for voters to cast ballots in future elections. > > The motivations behind the effort are indefensible, but at least they’re rational: Georgia Republicans suffered some unexpected defeats in 2020, so they looked for ways to rig the system to improve their odds of success going forward. > > In Montana, the politics surrounding [election-law changes](https://apnews.com/article/elections-montana-voter-registration-voting-5ee83eb24b3339610cfaee3570a16e4f) are a little different. > … > There were no problems in Montana’s elections in recent years, and there were no breakdowns requiring new solutions. The integrity of the state’s system of elections was never called into question. > … > There’s no great mystery behind such changes: ending same-day voter registration is intended to limit voter participation. Changing the state’s voter-ID law to exclude student ID cards is designed to discourage young adults – who tend to be more progressive – from casting ballots. > **[In some states, Republicans alter election laws, even after winning](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/some-states-republicans-alter-election-laws-even-after-winning-n1264799)** > > Montana Republicans had a terrific election cycle in 2020. They've decided to tilt the electoral playing field in their favor anyway ahead of 2022. ---
**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 21, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/212 "2021-04-21T15:02:08Z")
From their point of view, why take chances, right? Keep in mind, Montana still occasionally flies off the handle and votes in a centrist Democrat, so they gotta be vigilant. I really think we’re seeing a general normalization of illiberalism in the Republican party. Trump was the accelerant for sure, but the Republican party had been wanting to ‘go there’ for years. Trump’s celebrity and buffoonery just made it a hell of a lot easier for the GOP to say the unspeakable out in the open and now they’re not even hiding their contempt for democratic norms. ---
**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 21, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/213 "2021-04-21T17:23:28Z")
And the GOP is up to other games in Michigan. They want to distribute Electoral Votes by Congressional district. [GOP wants to split Michigan Electoral College votes. That would help the GOP. | Bridge Michigan](https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/gop-wants-split-michigan-electoral-college-votes-would-help-gop) Hey, IF every state did this and IF Congressional districts weren’t so gerrymandered, this might not be a bad idea, per se. But if you only do it in blue or swing states and if the Congressional district are blatantly gerrymandered it’s a whole different matter. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/214 "2021-04-24T20:55:49Z")
The AP has a good article that focuses on just one aspect of the GOP War on Voting: ballot boxes. > **[GOP targets ballot drop boxes in Georgia, Florida, elsewhere](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-georgia-elections-coronavirus-pandemic-gubernatorial-elections-c083f5e0af7855c9dbb5a1659840c4a9)** > > ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta-area voters looking to return their ballots using a drop box in next year’s gubernatorial election will have to do some searching... ---
**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 25, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/215 "2021-04-25T13:13:03Z")
They’re using a multiprong approach. One approach is to greatly impede access for voting blocks that vote against them. Another is to control who counts the votes and signs off on an election. The former is disturbing but the latter even more so - it’s like giving the home football team the power to decide whether a win actually counts as a win, or whether the home team’s coaching staff have the power to go through and review scores and ultimately decide which ones count and which ones don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/216 "2021-04-25T15:11:30Z")
They really are the Party of Stupid. Almost every voter they’re seeking to suppress – the young and the urban poor – will eventually overcome the tactics used against them and, once they’ve jumped through all the hoops to get to the voting booth in the future, will forever be an enemy of the Republican Party. But yeah, the immediate danger is another close election in '24 where a gerrymandered red Michigan legislature decides not to certify Wayne County results and throw the election to Donald Trump, despite him losing the popular vote by seven million again. A disenfranchised majority isn’t going to take that lying down. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/217 "2021-04-25T15:54:59Z")
But if we have to go through an armed revolution to restore democracy that will be very, very costly in so many ways. The time to stop the Rs stacking the deck forever is right now, the 18 months before the next election. We’re in exactly the same position today as many folks said about the immediate aftermath of the various Arab Spring movements: > It’ll be one man, one vote, one time. The totalitarians will win the only election that will ever matter. ---
**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 25, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/218 "2021-04-25T16:02:51Z")
In a purely democratic sense, yes, it’s a stupid strategy. Their opposition have overcome such efforts before, but the strategy has also paid off on other occasions, which is why they will continue to push in this direction. But more to the point that @LSLguy made, Republicans (conservatives) are mainstreaming a hostile takeover of government at all levels. They are quickly evolving into an overtly illiberal party that will do anything to win power. And I emphasize that last part: their objective is not necessarily to win every election, it’s to gain increasingly disproportionate amounts of real power, to impose their will through brute force. It’s to control enough of the mechanisms of power so that they don’t necessarily have to worry about competing in the marketplace ideas, which they seemed to have given up on long ago. There’s already been at least one serious constitutional/political crisis as a result of the GOP’s recent trend, and I think more are inevitable. Even though the GOP has lost elections as a result of their attempts to suppress voting, the takeaway from the Trump years is that you can be illiberal as hell and people will vote for you, in record numbers. They will never forget this. We shouldn’t either. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/219 "2021-04-25T16:16:21Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > A disenfranchised majority isn’t going to take that lying down. And what are we going to do about it? The whole point of totalitarianism is about bending the law for your own use to stay in power. If it simply becomes the law that Republicans are in power, then fighting against that becomes against the law. So, the question is, will people actually take up arms against a regime that has lawfully elected itself? That’s the only way to not take it lying down. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/220 "2021-04-25T16:33:03Z")
People act as if democratic elections are supposed to be a self-evident desirable feature of the US form of government, but that’s not part of the Constitution and never has been. The Constitution only states how elections are to be run and who may vote, _if elections are held_. It does not dictate that states hold elections. A popular democracy would be an _innovation_ in American government. I feel it’s an important and vitally needed innovation, but democracy activists need to avoid rhetoric that appeals to tradition. Anti-democracy is the true American tradition, it’s the whole reason for Constitutional originalism, and it needs to end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=12)