Donald Trump was right. The election is already an enormous mess. The only problem is, the chaos is coming at Trump’s direction via a conniving Texas voter suppression scheme.
Politics
As if 2 dozen COVID cases in The White House, Pennsylvania becoming Ground Zero for election lawsuits, and Trump holding a new stimulus package hostage until after the election wasn’t enough bad news for one day, now comes word that Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has revealed an electoral trick up his own sleeve.
Claiming to be acting in the interest of preventing the voter fraud Donald Trump has repeatedly predicted, Abbott has stripped all but 2 ballot drop boxes from Texas.
Yes, with 28.7 million residents living in the State of Texas, Gov. Abbott has opted to place 1 ballot drop box in the eastern part of the state and 1 box in the western portion. A mere TWO drop locations for 28 million people across a state that measures 268,000 square miles. Talk about Texas voter suppression!
Harris County (serving Houston), Dallas County, and multiple others opened or planned to open satellite drop-off locations for voters to fulfill their civic duty. However, Abbott stepped in and shut them all down as of last Friday, making it necessary for some Texas residents to drive 3 or more hours EACH WAY simply to make sure their ballot gets counted.
Donald Trump promised the election would be ripe with fraud and now, his lieutenants across the country are delivering on his behalf.
Courts are already examining an order by the Ohio secretary of state to permit only 1 drop-off location per county, as well as a Republican scheme in Pennsylvania to ban drop boxes entirely. However, Abbott is blatantly following the 2020 GOP playbook to stage outright Texas voter suppression just as ‘The Donald’ instructed.
“The state of Texas has a duty to voters to maintain the integrity of our elections,” Gov. Abbott attempted to explain in a statement. “As we work to preserve Texans’ ability to vote during the Covid-19 pandemic, we must take extra care to strengthen ballot security protocols throughout the state. These enhanced security protocols will ensure greater transparency and will help stop attempts at illegal voting.”
Naturally, Democrats are well aware of Abbott’s intentions and are fighting tooth and nail to get the order overturned.
“Republicans are on the verge of losing, so Governor Abbott is trying to adjust the rules last minute,” Gilberto Hinojosa, the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, said in a statement.
“To force hundreds of thousands of seniors and voters with disabilities to use a single drop-off location in a county that stretches over nearly 2,000 square miles is prejudicial and dangerous,” Harris County clerk Chris Hollins added on Twitter.
Texas has long been the epicenter of voting rights disputes, having argued in favor of a strict voter ID law that incurred several years of litigation before it was eventually upheld in 2018. However, they are not alone in the sneaky-tricks department.
South Carolina currently requires all mail-in ballots to be witnessed by another American or else be invalidated, while Mississippi residents must first “qualify” before even being provided a ballot. Interestingly, using COVID as a reason to vote by mail rather than in person is NOT permitted by the state.
With very active Texas voter suppression and other electoral tricks occurring in various states designed to make it harder to cast a vote, the message is clear: If at all possible, vote IN PERSON to assure your ballot gets cast and counted.
As Washington Post opinion writer, Paul Waldman put it: “Voter suppression is at the very heart of Republican electoral strategy.”
And it’s been their #1 weapon of choice since Southern White “Dixiecrats” left the Democrat Party in a rage and joined the Republican Party as a backlash to LBJ signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law.
The Repubs really are in a panic this time because they know a Blue Tsunami is heading their way so they’re desperately trying to hold onto power by any means necessary.
Tues. Nov. 3rd will tell the story.