# 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:** 26
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/501 "2021-07-21T12:29:11Z")
I hate to ever be in a position to even slightly defend Ted Cruz, but he’s not completely off-base here. The Texas constitution gives the House the authority to use state police to physically compel the attendance of members, and whether that counts as an “arrest” seems like a bit of hair-splitting. An arrest doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is going to be criminally charged. Part of any arrest can involve restraints if the subject resists, although I’d be surprised if handcuffs and leg irons were broken out for state Representatives. The “Oregon Senator” case they mention is great though, it was Senator Bob Packwood (of rampant sexual misconduct fame) when Republicans were trying to force an adjournment by ignoring a quorum call. They were all hiding out in their offices and Packwood was the one that they managed to catch. He didn’t put up a fight, but when they got to the Senate he requested as a matter of principle that he be carried across the threshold so that he did not voluntarily return to the chamber. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/502 "2021-07-21T19:41:43Z")
We’ll at least one Texas House Democrat who fled is apparently back in Austin and “in talks” with the Republican sponsor of the elections bill. Between their lack of a game plan and the fact that they keep coming down with COVID, I’m afraid this is going to become (another) debacle for Texas Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/503 "2021-07-21T21:47:16Z")
Drawing attention to the situation? By allegedly passing Covid to an aide to the Speaker, and a White house staffer? Good job, TX democrats. > **[Pelosi aide, White House official test positive for Covid-19 after contact...](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/20/pelosi-aide-covid-positive-500283)** > > The Pelosi spokesperson has not had close contact with the speaker since exposure. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/504 "2021-07-21T22:08:56Z")
You seem to think it was an intentional act. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/505 "2021-07-22T03:21:06Z")
Not intentional, but somehow emblematic of the bumbling Keystone Cops routine that this is turning into. There’s now apparently a group of House Ds who have returned to Austin (how many isn’t clear) to “begin active discussions on improving HB 3 [the elections bill].” House Democrats still in Washington have denounced the move. My own sense is that Republicans are winning the PR war on the walkout. It’s pretty damn hard to make out that staying in the Washington Plaza Hotel on the party’s dime is some sort of personal sacrifice on behalf of fundamental rights. At least when they did this in the early aughts they had enough sense to stay at a La Quinta in Ardmore, Oklahoma. One Democratic state Rep announced that she was running for Congress from her Plaza hotel room. The optics on all this are terrible. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/506 "2021-07-22T03:45:46Z")
Exactly. And it only adds to the negative optics, such as the initial photo of 50+ people on an airplane smiling and laughing, without masks. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/507 "2021-07-22T03:47:39Z")
The poster I was responding to seems to believe there was intent. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/508 "2021-07-22T04:05:24Z")
Intent, no. Lack of good judgement, yes. Plus a heavy dose of grandstanding. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2021, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/509 "2021-07-22T04:08:13Z")
So who is drawing attention by allegedly passing covid? What did you mean by that? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/510 "2021-07-22T04:10:28Z")
There are other ways to draw attention to one’s cause, without putting others at risk. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/511 "2021-07-22T04:31:34Z")
Oh… it’s that again, is it? “They should protest quietly, and out of sight! It’s their own fault!” 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/512 "2021-07-22T04:39:02Z")
Where did I say, or even imply, out of sight? Please stop misstating my position. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2021, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/513 "2021-07-22T05:07:41Z")
I believe my characterization is accurate. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/514 "2021-07-24T06:00:15Z")
I’m not sure what thread this goes in, but I don’t want to start another one. It seems there’s another election audit promulgated by Republican legislators. This one in Fulton County, Pennsylvania. And as in Mariposa County, they caused the election machines in that county to be decertified: > **[Pennsylvania decertifies county's voting machines after 2020 audit](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pennsylvania-decertifies-countys-voting-machines-after-2020-audit-2021-07-21/)** > > Pennsylvania's top election official has decertified the voting equipment of a rural county that participated in an audit of the 2020 election requested by a Republican state lawmaker and staunch ally of former President Donald Trump. ---
**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 26, 2021, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/515 "2021-07-26T10:32:36Z")
This article mirrors my thinking: Democrats, and democracy, are in serious trouble. > **[‘We’re f---ed’: Dems fear turnout catastrophe from GOP voting laws](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/26/democrats-gop-voting-laws-crisis-500726)** > > There’s growing concern — bordering on alarm — about the potential impact in 2022 of the raft of new voting restrictions. It seems clear that if we don’t eliminate the filibuster and pass meaningful voter protection laws immediately, American democracy will die and by replaced with fascism sometime between 2024 and 2028. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/516 "2021-07-26T15:37:34Z")
Biden should “pack the court”! ---
**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 27, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/517 "2021-07-27T14:07:29Z")
Feelings of remorse? > **[An Arizona GOP official tore into the state's election recount on Fox News:...](https://news.yahoo.com/arizona-gop-official-tore-states-104026001.html)** > > The state ordered an audit into the presidential election amid claims of rigged ballots, which Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer called "false." > [@](#): > > “I’m as Republican as they come,” he told Fox’s Bret Baier. “There’s a lot I’d be willing to do for a Republican nominee for president, but lie about the election is not one of those things.” > [@](#): > > Richer said of the former president’s claims: “It’s disappointing. It’s borderline dystopian. And unfortunately, when the president says something like that, it’s very hard to put the genie back in the bottle.” Atta guy! Maybe a few more to start stepping up to the plate? ---
**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 27, 2021, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/518 "2021-07-27T14:59:48Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > “I’m as Republican as they come,” he told Fox’s Bret Baier. “There’s a lot I’d be willing to do for a Republican nominee for president, but lie about the election is not one of those things.” > > > [@](#): > > > > Richer said of the former president’s claims: “It’s disappointing. It’s borderline dystopian. And unfortunately, when the president says something like that, it’s very hard to put the genie back in the bottle.” No Trumpian endorsement for him! Into the Outer Darkness and begone! ---
**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:** [July 27, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/519 "2021-07-27T18:43:20Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > It seems there’s another election audit promulgated by Republican legislators. This one in Fulton County, Pennsylvania. And as in Mariposa County, they caused the election machines in that county to be decertified They should actually examine these machines closely to see if the Republican “auditors” altered them in any way. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/520 "2021-07-27T18:57:46Z")
I don’t know if its worth it. I think it is actually rather unlikely that they did alter the machines, it wouldn’t be that easy to do and they don’t seem to be the most sophisticated bunch. Even if they did mess with them it may not be all that easy to detect, and there is no way to prove that they didn’t manipulate them, so all the machines are going to have to be re-certified anyway. Its not clear to me what is involved in re-certifying a machine, whether they just need to reinstall all the software, swap out some components, do extensive testing on the individual machines, or scrap them entirely. If anyone here has the answer I’d be interested in hearing it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=27)