# 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:** 25
**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:** [July 13, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/481 "2021-07-13T22:26:08Z")
The current Supreme Court is giving solid support for state legislatures to run their elections in any manner they want. If the Georgia House decides that there are shenanigans in the Atlanta metro, they will be able to simply declare those results tainted and lawsuits challenging that will be too little and too late. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2021, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/482 "2021-07-13T23:36:56Z")
It would take some really repulsive shit for the courts to repudiate Republicans. What they don’t yet realize is that this will inevitably make the courts less independent in the future. The Executive is ultimately the most powerful branch of government. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/483 "2021-07-13T23:45:41Z")
I’m starting to think that we probably cannot stop the anti-democratic backslide. There’s now a better than 50% chance that the United States will slip into an illiberal democracy, and it’s now more of a question of how long it stays there. Ending it, reversing it depends on the ability of the ruling group - not necessarily the majority of the US population - but the majority of participants within the ruling class and coalition to have an internal alarm that tells them that things have gone too far. And that realization must occur before the ruling party imposes the kind of law and order that can successfully deter resistance. This is when the average person should begin thinking about the kinds of wiretapping and electronic surveillance capabilities they’ve been paying for and consenting to all these years. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/484 "2021-07-14T00:17:02Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > If we reach that point, I don’t think that federal legislation is going to be enough. At that point it comes down to the supreme court deciding whether or not they want the country to be a democracy. If they do want a democracy then any provision that says ignore the election let the statehouse decide is going to be overturned. If they don’t like democracy then they can just declare the federal legislation unconstitutional. However even without packing the court I think ignoring the results of the election is a bridge too far even for a lopsided conservative court. As evidence I give the umpteen lawsuits that Trump tried all of which went nowhere. One of the most underrated things that protects democracy is that most people who attain status and moderate amounts of power in a democracy would never attain their status in an authoritarian system. People like John Roberts, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell would NEVER attain power under a dictator. Trump would honestly fare better in an authoritarian system because he has a cult of personality and he of course wouldn’t be able to match the people who truly flourish which are people who can thrive in an environment where you gain power by literally jailing or killing your rivals. There’s really only room for one extremely shrewd politician to happen to be the head of state during the transition into a fully authoritarian system, and manage to hang on to power. What this essentially means is that once the norms that allow democracy to survive get bent so far that they break, the people who slowly attained power and status under those norms are going to lose it fast and may have to fear for their lives. Now whether the horse-traders recognize this before it’s too late is another matter. It seems to me like the GOP and the groups close to them (Federalist Society, etc.) have the contradictory position of trying to stay in a democratic system where it’s not possible for them to lose the important elections. At some point this contradiction has to resolve itself, but I don’t think it’s clear how. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/485 "2021-07-14T01:43:09Z")
The current Supreme Court would declare all of this to be a “political matter”. In other words, if you don’t approve of your elected officials removing your right to vote, your recourse is to vote them out of office. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/486 "2021-07-14T03:49:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The current Supreme Court would declare all of this to be a “political matter”. In other words, if you don’t approve of your elected officials removing your right to vote, your recourse is to vote them out of office. - And how many of the Court’s current right-wing majority have the intellectual prowess to recognize how ridiculously self-contradictory such “recourse” actually is? And of that number, how many are willing to pretend that they think it would be a logical and reasonable ruling? ((Both Snowboarder Bo and DeadTreasSecretaries offered excellent counter-arguments to Buck Godot’s reply to me, by the way. I agree with both; I don’t think it wise to hope that the current Court would make any ruling that could protect democracy at the potential cost of a Republican political entity getting what it wants.)) ---
**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:** [July 15, 2021, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/487 "2021-07-15T23:30:52Z")
Jim Crow redux: > **[Black caucus chair arrested at Capitol during voting rights protest](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/563265-black-caucus-chair-arrested-at-capitol-during-voting-rights-protest/)** > > Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) led a group of pro-voting rights protesters into the Hart Senate Office Building Thursday afternoon, resulting in her being taken into custody… ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/488 "2021-07-17T15:21:57Z")
My main concern with the Texas Democrats’ walkout at this point is they don’t seem to have any kind of plan for how they’re going to use this moment to advance the cause. They’ve known for a month that this special session was coming, and that a walkout was their only tool for preventing the passage of the Republicans’ voting bill. But their messaging is scattered and Republicans are predictably pounding them for “abandoning their duties.” The most important thing they need is a spokesman who can be the face of the Democratic walkout. The obvious candidate is Senfronia Thompson, a senior, widely respected Black legislator from Houston. They need concise talking points they’re all using on why this bill is such an abomination. And they need more platforms for getting the message out. I’m perplexed why Pelosi and Schumer haven’t already announced congressional hearings where the Ds can testify and get their message out. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/489 "2021-07-17T15:24:45Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I’m perplexed why Pelosi and Schumer haven’t already announced congressional hearings where the Ds can testify and get their message out. Be an interesting way to “justify” the walk-out as well. If the legislature of Texas were subpoenaed to testify in relation to the For the People Act, then they would simply be responding to that summons. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/490 "2021-07-17T15:45:22Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > But their messaging is scattered… That is a universal problem of the Democrats. Probably because no one person has an iron grip on their balls. I completely endorse your post. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/491 "2021-07-19T08:28:56Z")
> [@](#): > > In a statement, Capitol Police said that “two males and seven females” were arrested for “illegal demonstration activity” after being asked three times to disperse. Nonsense - they were just a bunch of peaceful tourists. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/492 "2021-07-19T23:05:43Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > The scenario was…….Trump comes into office in 2016, stops tweeting, stops the performative bullshit and becomes a good President. This bizarro world Trump actually has a healthcare plan and bipartisan solutions, and eventually he wins most of his detractors cover and starts hitting approval rates north of 70%. He wins his second term by a landslide and starts a movement to eliminate term limits, which is widely embraced. Then, and only then, does he start to turn up the heat on the pot of frogs and ease the country into authoritarianism. Apropros of nothing, I’m reminded of FDR… ~Max ---
**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:** [July 20, 2021, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/493 "2021-07-20T08:12:00Z")
Whoops! If we don’t “fix” the 2020 election, then no more elections! > [@](#): > > Former President Donald Trump’s spokeswoman delivered an ominous warning about the future of democracy in speaking to her boss’s claims of a stolen election in 2020. > > Liz Harrington, a former [Republican National Committee](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/rnc) official, told One America News Network there would not be another election without a “fix” to the November contest, which [election](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/2020-elections) authorities have defended against Trump’s allegations of widespread fraud. > **[Trump spokeswoman says no 'next election' without 2020 'fix'](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/1327333/trump-spokeswoman-says-no-next-election-without-2020-fix/)** > > Former President Donald Trump’s spokeswoman delivered an ominous warning about the future of democracy in speaking to her boss’s claims of a stolen election in 2020. Liz Harrington, a former Republican National Committee official, told One America... To be sure, this is reported in the Washington Examiner, so maybe take it with a grain of KCN? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/494 "2021-07-20T09:15:56Z")
It’s not news that Trump wants to fix elections in his favor. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2021, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/495 "2021-07-20T12:05:32Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > maybe take it with a grain of KCN? That’s a pretty grim twist on the old saying. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/496 "2021-07-20T13:06:48Z")
My favorite quote from the article - uttered by the new Mouth of Trump, Luz Harrington. Harrington said Republican leaders have been “way too silent for way too long” on the 2020 contest and she vowed to keep the pressure on. We’re not going to stop until we get to the bottom of it!” YAY! Please attack and destroy every single Republican that doesn’t make getting Trump reinstated NOW the focal point, the only point, of their campaign! Please! ---
**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:** [July 20, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/497 "2021-07-20T13:17:43Z")
We can’t have elections if people vote for the wrong person! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/498 "2021-07-20T13:58:44Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > We can’t have elections if people vote for the wrong person!- “If people can’t vote for the Right Person, they shouldn’t be allowed to vote at all!” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/499 "2021-07-20T21:00:58Z")
You tell 'em, Ted! [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fact-check-is-there-clear-legal-authority-to-handcuff-and-put-in-leg-irons-fleeing-texas-democrats/ar-AAMeOOw?rt=1&ocid=Win10NewsApp&referrerID=InAppShare](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fact-check-is-there-clear-legal-authority-to-handcuff-and-put-in-leg-irons-fleeing-texas-democrats/ar-AAMeOOw?rt=1&ocid=Win10NewsApp&referrerID=InAppShare) > ## Interpretations of the Texas Constitution > > Article III, Sec. 10 of the state constitution provides little guidance for the situation at hand. In one short paragraph, the document states that the House can “compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as each House may provide.” > > That language effectively grants authority over the handling of absent members to the Texas House Rules. Under the House rules, the remaining House members can issue a Motion for Call of the House, which directs the House’s sergeant-at-arms to dispatch state police to find and return the missing members to secure a quorum. > > “All absentees for whom no sufficient excuse is made may, by order of a majority of those present, be sent for and arrested, wherever they may be found,” Rule 5, Sec. 8 of the House rulebook states. > > While the language uses the word “arrest,” there’s uncertainty about how this term is to be interpreted. Because none of these errant members have committed any crime, and the House cannot issue a criminal warrant for their arrest, they can’t be arrested in a criminal sense. > > Although Cruz’s interpretation of the law finds that there is “clear legal authority” to handcuff Democratic lawmakers and put them “in leg irons,” others treat this as a gray area of the law. > > The reason why this question lacks clarity is because this hypothetical set of circumstances has no judicial precedent in Texas, said Randall Erben, an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law and former legislative director to Abbott. There has been no judicial interpretation of enforcement of Rule 5, Sec. 8 of the House rulebook, and thus no existing authority on the matter in Texas. > > “I’m not going to argue with the junior senator about this, but what I’m saying is there’s no precedent anywhere for any of this,” Erben said. “He may have found some authority someplace from somewhere, but it’s not going to be relevant or on point to the interpretation by a court of competent jurisdiction, which under the Constitution is the only authority that anybody has to do this.” > > Cruz’s office, which responded to questions after this article was first published, argued that the “clear legal authority” stems from the U.S. Constitution, which has a similar provision regarding absent lawmakers. Cruz spokesman Steve Guest points to a 1988 case in which an Oregon senator was brought into the senate chamber by police feet-first against his will. > > Because there is no material difference between the language used in the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution regarding absent lawmakers, Cruz’s office argues that the 1988 case shows the extent to which officers can use force in returning lawmakers. > > “Pretending that the law doesn’t clearly allow for the arrest and potential physical compulsion of delinquent legislators is patently absurd,” Guest said. > > Erben, however, said that the ultimate authority here rests in the Texas courts. > … Absurdity is no obstacle to Cruz-- it’s a challenge! ---
**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:** [July 21, 2021, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/500 "2021-07-21T01:09:54Z")
Get all those demonrats brought back in iron maidens! And then they have to listen to Ted reading _Green Eggs and Ham_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=26)