# 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:** 28
**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 27, 2021, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/541 "2021-07-27T22:37:15Z")
“wordy words! words! you cannot deny these wordy words!” 🙄 ---
**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, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/542 "2021-07-27T22:45:39Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Vaccine passports are a good idea. If you don’t like it, stay home. You don’t have the right to spread disease.- According to the latest info on the Delta variation, vaccinated people can definitely spread it even if they themselves have no symptoms. A conundrum for sure. ---
**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 27, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/543 "2021-07-27T23:03:57Z")
Not if they’re spreading potentially fatal diseases, they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/544 "2021-07-27T23:24:11Z")
Moderating: > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Advocating Fascism? Like vaccine passports? > > Show us your papers. This has nothing to do with the topic at hand. It’s a diversion and a thread hijack. Please stick with the topic at hand. Not a warning, only a note. Those arguing with D’Anconia on this issue, please drop it. ---
**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 28, 2021, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/545 "2021-07-28T00:25:50Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > the GOP has learned exactly how to harness their power. Indeed. The GOP has discovered that they can tell this huge number of voters anything - _literally anything_ and they will believe it and repeat it. There is absolutely nothing too outrageous, illogical or just plain insane that these folks will not believe instantly. All they need to do is keep these folks continually ramped up with fear and anger, and they will loyally vote for the GOP. I can’t think of anything so unbelievably nutty that they could not use at some point in the future. I foresee a GOP candidate in the future that makes Trump look like a mature statesman. ---
**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 28, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/546 "2021-07-28T17:26:55Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Free people absolutely have the right to go about their business without showing papers. Unless they want to vote, amirite? ---
**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 28, 2021, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/547 "2021-07-28T20:21:40Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Unless they want to vote, amirite? **Ann\_Hedonia** drops mic. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/548 "2021-07-28T20:23:35Z")
Indeed she does. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/549 "2021-07-29T12:24:18Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Those arguing with D’Anconia on this issue, please drop it. As per the modnote above, please drop replying to the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/550 "2021-08-05T21:17:50Z")
As expected, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called another special session to begin they day after the current one ends on Friday to debate election “reform.” The Texas House Democrats currently camped out in Washington to keep the Legislature from passing legislation will have so stay out of the state for another 30 days if they wish to continue to block the bill. I fully expect them to fold. This walkout has been a debacle, with no plan for how they’re going to sustain it or benefit from it. Two of the Dems allegedly fighting for voting rights legislation in DC got busted that [they’re actually on vacation to Portugal](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/03/texas-democrats-washington-portugal/). Texas Democrats never fail to disappoint. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/551 "2021-08-08T17:06:36Z")
Long thread, bad memory, etc., but a post from one of our conservatives elsewhere in the forum made me think. To paraphrase, “80% of all Americans favor voter ID of some sort.” I believe this is largely true. Where the two sides importantly diverge is that liberals would like states to engage in acts that actively assist everyone to acquire a valid voter ID (motor voter rules and a host of other methods). Conservatives seem to think that this cheapens the act of registration somehow, that voting has higher value if you have to jump through more hoops to do so. I don’t get the conservative position at all and I especially don’t get their opposition to things like universal voting by mail. There’s no fucking widespread fraud; help your fellow citizens to vote. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/552 "2021-08-08T17:35:49Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > Conservatives seem to think that this cheapens the act of registration somehow, that voting has higher value if you have to jump through more hoops to do so. I think the situation is simpler than that. Republicans want people to have to jump through hoops specifically so they can make the hoops easier to jump through for people who are likely to vote for them, and harder for people who are likely to vote Democrat. Democrats would prefer a working voter ID system, but know that the intention is to create a broken one whose purpose is to be used against them. The [literacy tests](https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/06/voting-rights-and-the-supreme-court-the-impossible-literacy-test-louisiana-used-to-give-black-voters.html) of the Jim Crow south also had a sensible-sounding justification – you couldn’t trust the vote of someone who couldn’t even read the ballot after all – but I don’t think anyone seriously believes that the primary purpose of the tests wasn’t 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:** [August 8, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/553 "2021-08-08T17:49:03Z")
Conservatives are typically more hierarchical than progressives, who tend to be more pluralistic and egalitarian. Thus they want, and feel entitled to, more power. In the eyes of conservatives, they founded the country. They see themselves as the true Americans and they should set the standards for others to follow. They want to make it easier for conservatives to vote and harder for ‘others.’ ---
**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:** [August 8, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/554 "2021-08-08T18:20:41Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > I don’t get the conservative position at all and I especially don’t get their opposition to things like universal voting by mail. There’s no fucking widespread fraud; help your fellow citizens to vote. It’s not about fraud. The Republicans know there’s virtually no fraud. It’s this: > [@leahcim](#): > > Republicans want people to have to jump through hoops specifically so they can make the hoops easier to jump through for people who are likely to vote for them, and harder for people who are likely to vote Democrat. Trumpy spoke this truth last year (March 2020), and McConnell had said it before him. > **[Trump says Republicans would ‘never’ be elected again if it was easier to vote](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/30/trump-republican-party-voting-reform-coronavirus)** > > President dismissed Democratic-led push for voter reforms amid coronavirus pandemic during Fox & Friends appearance > Donald Trump admitted on Monday that making it easier to vote in America would hurt the Republican party. > > The president made the comments as he dismissed a Democratic-led push for reforms such as vote-by-mail, same-day registration and early voting as states seek to safely run elections amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Democrats had proposed the measures as part of the coronavirus stimulus. They ultimately were not included in the $2.2tn final package, which included only $400m to states to help them run elections. > > “The things they had in there were crazy. **They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again** ,” Trump said during an appearance on [Fox & Friends](https://twitter.com/LisPower1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1244606910462136321&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2Flive%2F2020%2Fmar%2F30%2Fcoronavirus-us-live-updates-donald-trump-deaths-america-new-york-fauci%3Fpage%3Dwith%253Ablock-5e8208278f08a8efb3ba8fb5). > … My bold. Q.E.D. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/555 "2021-08-10T15:54:00Z")
The Texas House of Representatives is within five votes of having a quorum as of yesterday as some Democrats have begun to trickle back to Austin. The Democrats are tearing into each other on Twitter over it. And the Governor has proposed a constitutional amendment to reduce quorum requirements from 2/3 to a majority so that they can never do it again. > **[Texas Democrats at odds with one another as some return to Legislature and...](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/09/texas-democrats-legislature-return/)** > > While the quorum-busting Democrats were able to maintain a largely united front during the first special session, which ended Friday, it was clear they reached a fork in the road when the second special session began a day later. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/556 "2021-08-10T17:06:36Z")
I think the Democrats probably felt like they had no choice but to break the quorum, but they had no game plan other than that. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/557 "2021-08-12T00:10:14Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > And the Governor has proposed a constitutional amendment to reduce quorum requirements from 2/3 to a majority so that they can never do it again. This is probably a good thing in the long run. Supermajority quorum requirements are objectively stupid and there’s a reason why only a few states have them. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/558 "2021-08-12T14:37:18Z")
The internet tells me those states are: > [Wisconsin legislators aren't the first to walk out, leave town - CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/02/18/awol.legislators/index.html) (2011) > > But in Indiana, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas, two-thirds of the members make up a quorum, and in Wisconsin, three-fifths of the members are required to act on budget and tax bills, making it easier to thwart a bill. ~Max ---
**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:** [August 12, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/559 "2021-08-12T20:48:18Z")
Ted Cruz does it again. 🤬 > **[Ted Cruz shuts down federal voting bill before U.S. Senate leaves for recess,...](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/11/ted-cruz-voting-bill-congress-democrats-texas/)** > > U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz blocked a last Democratic attempt to pass federal voting rights legislation this summer. The Senate left town but is expected to pick up the issue again in the fall. > … > During that overnight final session, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-New York, requested unanimous consent from the Senate to immediately consider the For the People Act, a sweeping overhaul of federal elections that would preempt attempts from states to restrict voting access, would overhaul campaign finance laws and would end congressional gerrymandering, among other provisions. > > Only one senator is needed to block a unanimous consent request — a procedural move typically reserved for items that aren’t controversial — and Cruz jumped at the opportunity. > > “This bill would constitute a federal government takeover of elections. … It would strike down virtually every reasonable voter integrity law in the country,” Cruz said. > > Schumer proposed unanimous consent for two more proposals that would address redistricting and campaign finance, and Cruz also objected to those as motions. > > The great hope among many of the more than 50 Texas Democrats who had decamped to the nation’s capital this summer was that the U.S. Senate would make tangible progress toward a federal voting rights bill before Congress’ annual August recess period. > … ---
**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:** [August 12, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/560 "2021-08-12T20:51:43Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > > Only one senator is needed to block a unanimous consent request — a procedural move typically reserved for items that aren’t controversial I don’t think this is honest reporting. It has been very much “typical” to block unanimous consent requests to consider major legislation for years\*, especially by Mr. McConnell’s caucus. ~Max \* for the record, since 1789. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=29)