# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/61 "2021-03-16T08:17:21Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > I 100% back this line of thinking. Let’s ban everyone from voting who gets their “news” from QAnon, Infowars, OANN or Fox. They’re clearly low-information voters and don’t deserve to participate in public affairs In theory, it has a tiny grain of merit. In practice, you can never trust anyone who has the power to implement it, that they would implement it in any kind of fair and reasonable or consistent way. You have to assume that power corrupts. Everyone votes. If you think some people don’t have the right information in their heads to make an informed choice, try to fix that. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2021, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/62 "2021-03-16T11:54:08Z")
> **[Opinion | Texas Republicans declare war on democracy](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/texas-is-on-the-cutting-edge-of-voter-suppression/2021/03/15/5c274fce-85cd-11eb-8a8b-5cf82c3dffe4_story.html)** > > Texas Republicans want to make it even harder to vote in their state. > …The real goal is to suppress voting in Houston and other areas trending blue. The consequence ought to be voter backlash against a party that displays such contempt for democracy. > > Texas GOP lawmakers [introduced on Friday a wave of anti-voting measures](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/03/12/bill-filing-deadline-republicans-file-election-legislation-democrats-call-voter-suppression/). One proposal would force counties to close polling places at 7 p.m., making it harder for shift workers to vote. Most Texas voters already may not vote by mail; a Republican plan would require those claiming disability as a reason to cast an absentee ballot to provide onerous levels of written documentation to prove they qualify. Another proposal would bar counties from distributing absentee ballot applications unless voters formally request them. > > These are only a few of the useless hassles Texas Republicans [want to impose](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Editorial-Stop-the-steal-of-Texans-election-16023632.php) on the state’s voters. Drive-through and outdoor voting would be banned. **Texans would be restricted from dropping off completed absentee ballots.** Deputy voter registrars, who help voters sort through the process of registering and casting ballots, would be eliminated. Volunteers who drive voters to polling places would be discouraged. > … Blahblahblah… Note the line I bolded: “Texans would be restricted from dropping off completed absentee ballots.” Um… isn’t there some other state that plans to insist on just the opposite, namely, that absentee ballots **must** be dropped off in person and can no longer be mailed in? (Which will be a problem for military stationed overseas. 🤦🏽‍♀️ ) ---
**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:** [March 16, 2021, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/63 "2021-03-16T11:56:12Z")
Of course the Rs will include any necessary exceptions to maximize voting by the military. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/64 "2021-03-16T13:42:42Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > > [@Akaj](#): > > > > I 100% back this line of thinking. Let’s ban everyone from voting who gets their “news” from QAnon, Infowars, OANN or Fox. They’re clearly low-information voters and don’t deserve to participate in public affairs > > In theory, it has a tiny grain of merit. In practice, you can never trust anyone who has the power to implement it, that they would implement it in any kind of fair and reasonable or consistent way. You have to assume that power corrupts. > > Everyone votes. If you think some people don’t have the right information in their heads to make an informed choice, try to fix that. I should have attached an /s to my post. I know it’s obviously impossible to ban idiots from voting. My point is that it’s ridiculous and racist to assume, as the GOP does, that one side’s voters have more idiots than the other’s. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/65 "2021-03-16T16:26:54Z")
I’m feeling like there are way more idiots on the RW side. Not inherently, mind you. Just that for the last 30 years their media has been trying to make them unable to reason properly. ---
**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:** [March 24, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/66 "2021-03-24T23:05:58Z")
> **[Republicans Aim to Seize More Power Over How Elections Are Run (Published 2021)](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/us/politics/republicans-election-laws.html)** > > G.O.P. lawmakers in at least eight states controlled by the party are trying to gain broad influence over the mechanics of voting, in an effort that could further undermine the country’s democratic norms. > … > Nationwide, Republican lawmakers in at least eight states controlled by the party are angling to pry power over elections from secretaries of state, governors and nonpartisan election boards. > > The maneuvers risk adding an overtly partisan skew to how electoral decisions are made each year, threatening the fairness that is the bedrock of American democracy. The push is intertwined with [Republicans’ extraordinary national drive](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/27/us/republican-voter-suppression.html) to make it harder for millions of Americans to vote, with legislative and legal attacks on early voting, absentee balloting and automatic voter registration laws. > … B-b-b-but Unca Mitch says they’re not doin’ anything wrong, dadgummit! [https://www.axios.com/mitch-mcconnell-state-voter-suppression-19a21da7-0015-4fad-9105-0699e5600f70.html](https://www.axios.com/mitch-mcconnell-state-voter-suppression-19a21da7-0015-4fad-9105-0699e5600f70.html) ---
**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:** [March 24, 2021, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/67 "2021-03-24T23:09:09Z")
There’s no going back for this iteration of the GOP. They’ve signed their contract in blood with the white devil, and there is no going back. They’re a disease that will run its course, just a matter of whether they destroy the host or not. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2021, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/68 "2021-03-25T02:22:31Z")
> **[Democrats Begin Push for Biggest Expansion of Voting Since 1960s (Published...](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/us/politics/democrats-voting-rights.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage)** > > Democrats characterized the far-reaching elections overhaul as the civil rights battle of modern times. Republicans called it a power grab that would put their party at a permanent disadvantage. “…put their [Republican] party at a permanent disadvantage…” Gee, ya think? ---
**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:** [March 25, 2021, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/69 "2021-03-25T09:24:42Z")
And once again, the Republicans could, you know, hold positions and propose policies that a majority of Americans want to vote for. Naaaaah… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/70 "2021-03-25T14:57:48Z")
Doing that would compromise the only thing they care about: preserving the privilege of the ruling caste. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2021, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/71 "2021-03-25T15:12:18Z")
The thing is, as this NYTimes columnist sagely points out, the Pubs didn’t do all that badly in the election. Their guy got a shitload of votes, they picked up some House seats, they weren’t clobbered in the Senate. But they insist on shooting themselves in their own feet with all this voter repression stuff. This may not be paywalled since it was reprinted in the San Antonio Express-News. > **[Self-inflicted voting injuries from a fearful GOP - San Antonio Express,...](http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODN/SanAntonioExpressNews/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=SAEN%2F2021%2F03%2F25&entity=Ar01902&sk=D6155F13&mode=text)** > > San Antonio Express - 3/25/2021 > … > What’s striking about all this is that, far from evidence of Republican decline, the 2020 election is proof of Republican resilience, even strength. Trump won more than 74 million votes last year. He made substantial gains with Hispanic voters — reversing more than a decade of Republican decline — and improved with Black voters too. He lost, yes, but he left his party in better-than-expected shape in both the House and the Senate. > > If Republicans could break themselves of Trump and look at last November with clear eyes, they would see that their fears of demographic eclipse are overblown and that they can compete — even thrive — in the kinds of high-turnout elections envisioned by voting rights activists. > > Indeed, the great irony of the Republican Party’s drive to restrict the vote in the name of Trump is that it burdens the exact voters he brought to the polls. Under Trump, the Republican Party swapped some of the most likely voters — white college-educated moderates — for some of the least likely — blue-collar men. > > In other words, by killing measures that make voting more open to everyone, Republicans might make their fears of terminal decline a self-fulfilling prophecy I approve of that prophecy and its fulfillment. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/72 "2021-03-25T15:51:27Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > And once again, the Republicans could, you know, hold positions and propose policies that a majority of Americans want to vote for. > > Naaaaah… > [@Acsenray](#): > > Doing that would compromise the only thing they care about: preserving the privilege of the ruling caste. Summed up as: > [@Frank Wilhoit](#): > > Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/73 "2021-03-25T17:19:02Z")
I remember back in the day, Bricker repeatedly telling us that the GOP wasn’t trying to steal elections. I wonder what he thinks now. I kinda feel like they have been trying to steal them all along, only now they don’t feel fettered by having to pretend to be decent human beings because RW media has crystalized (most) American conservatives into an unquestioning cult. They are so convinced that the enemy (liberals) are totalitarian loons that anything whatsoever is justified, no matter how underhanded. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/74 "2021-03-25T17:20:57Z")
Yeah. The American right wing believes wholeheartedly that liberals are literally the enemies of democracy and freedom who are trying to destroy their country and civilization itself. It’s fucking madness. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/75 "2021-03-25T17:23:21Z")
“I’m gonna make your healthcare cost you much less!” — Commie Liberal Babykiller ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/76 "2021-03-25T20:43:37Z")
It’s out in the open now. Now that we know how far they are willing to go the only question left to answer is whether the fascists will win or not. At this point I don’t think I have enough data to make a guess either way. Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney-Barrett will likely have a huge influence on the outcome. As will Joe Manchin and Kysrten Sinema. It may very well turn out that those six individuals will determine whether or not American democracy is reaching it’s end. Only time will tell. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2021, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/77 "2021-03-26T00:31:54Z")
The irony of the republitards is that if they’d just bury their fucking racism, and focus on being hyper-religious instead, they’d probably dominate politics. They’d be equal to the liberal democratic party in Japan; they’d have to get caught in bed having sex with farm animals to lose an election. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2021, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/78 "2021-03-26T01:00:58Z")
I’m guessing poll taxes aren’t that far away now. The night the lights went out in Georgia’s democracy. > **[Sweeping changes to Georgia elections signed into law](https://www.ajc.com/politics/bill-changing-georgia-voting-rules-passes-state-house/EY2MATS6SRA77HTOBVEMTJLIT4/)** > > The Georgia General Assembly gave final approval Thursday to a bill that would impose new rules for absentee ballots, drop boxes and weekend voting. The legislation now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature or veto. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/79 "2021-03-26T02:49:52Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I remember back in the day, Bricker repeatedly telling us that the GOP wasn’t trying to steal elections. I wonder what he thinks now. I think about that all the time. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2021, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/80 "2021-03-26T08:55:01Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > . . . they’d have to get caught in bed having sex with farm animals to lose an election. Wouldn’t matter. It’s okay when Republicans do it. (And the babies would be genetically hereditary Republicans too, so there’s that.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=5)