Rigging the system

The Missoulian on Feb. 4, 2021 reported, “There is also no evidence of voter fraud or lack of integrity in Montana’s elections. Republicans who brought a lawsuit over the security of Montana’s election held by mail last November were forced to admit that point in court

last fall.” And yet, if you can’t win elections based on your unpopular policy positions, you might as well cheat and restrict people’s access to voting to try and win, right?

After losing the White House and the Senate, Republicans are looking for a path back to power in 2022 to 2024. Embracing policies that they can sell to their supporters appears to be the strategy du jour as Republicans fight a COVID-19 stimulus bill that has massive popular support. Instead, they’re going with dismantling voting rights state by state and also, they hope, at the Supreme Court.

With more than 250 bills restricting voting rights having been introduced in 43 states, “We are seeing the weaponization of Trump’s big lie,” Ari Melber said on CNN.

All around the country, Republicans are pointing to the fact that many of their voters believe the election was stolen as a reason to cut back on voting. Of course, it was Trump and Republicans who conned them into thinking this. For two months and afterwards, Trump and his cronies said the election was stolen. Now we are seeing Republicans in state after state, including all of these key swing states like Georgia and Arizona, rush to restrict access to the ballot.

And Republicans admit to rigging the system to win. An attorney for Arizona’s Republican Party offered a blunt reason for his presence defending the state’s voting restrictions before the Supreme Court on March 2: The measures disadvantage Democrats. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/supreme-court-gop-attorney-defends-voting-restrictions-saying-they-help-n1259305

In Montana, the GOP Chairman stated that mail elections hurt Republicans and has been accused of voter suppression (https://billingsgazette.com/news/gop-chairman-says-mail-elections-hurt-republicans-is-accused-of-voter-suppression/article_22d791f1-e3dd-5b4b-b8f2-c9fcbb137888.html)

We have a long, long history of Republicans not wanting a level playing field and continuing to assault democracy. How sad. How wrong. How pathetic.