Opinion | Republicans want more voter suppression. Here’s how to make elections more fair — not less.

February 4, 2021 ☼ gopelections

Source: The Washington Post - Link

BY ALL credible accounts, the 2020 elections went off remarkably well: Security held up, fraud was practically nonexistent, and a record number of voters turned out in the middle of a pandemic. But conducting a sound, well-run election in Georgia resulted in stinging losses for Republicans in presidential and Senate races. So now, Georgia Republicans want to cook the rules, reinforcing Republican control of the state by suppressing the voters.

Georgia GOP state senators unveiled on Monday bills that would end no-excuse absentee voting, ban ballot drop boxes and restrict automatic voter registration. The week before, a Republican lawmaker submitted a bill that would require absentee voters to send in two copies of their IDs — when applying for and when submitting mail-in ballots.

Nothing in the 2020 election experience suggests that wide-scale use of mail-in ballots, the provision of drop boxes or the rollout of automatic voter registration pose major risks to voting integrity. Indeed, automatic voter registration programs are designed to increase the accuracy of voter registration lists. No conceivable public purpose is served by making it harder to register. Meanwhile, the crackdown on mail-in ballots reflects the fact that large numbers of Democrats shifted to absentee voting in 2020.

The propaganda has had its effect. I won’t be surprised to see some of this pass. It will be challenged, but fail in the Supreme Court. It will eventually fail in the long term. Changing demographics will ultimately take hold.