The war on voting rights

[Rewind]

Retrumplicans are unhappy that Donald Trump, their idol, lost the 2020 Presidential election. They blame the record numbers of early voters (a majority of whom were Democrats) and the record numbers of mail-in votes (a majority of which favored Biden). Retrumplicans are now determined to do everything they can to make it harder for Americans – in particular, Democrats and minorities – to vote. So far this year, 253 bills have been introduced in 43 state legislatures that will greatly restrict voting rights. The "win-at-all-costs" Retrumplicans have no shame.

Iowa Governor signs controversial law shortening early and Election Day voting
CNN, Mar 8 2021 7:44 PM ET

Republican Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds today signed into law a controversial bill aimed at limiting voting and making it harder for voters to return absentee ballots. The legislation, which passed both Republican-controlled chambers of the state legislature last month, will reduce the number of early voting days from 29 days to 20 days. It will also close polling places an hour earlier on Election Day (at 8 PM instead of 9 PM). The bill additionally places new restrictions on absentee voting including banning officials from sending applications without a voter first requesting one and requiring ballots be received by the county before polls close on Election Day.

The new law drew immediate backlash from Democrats in the state, including a tweet from the Iowa Democratic party stating, "We deserve better. The Governor and Iowa Republicans chose to fast-track legislation that stacks the deck in their favor and disenfranchises Iowans." Democratic election attorney Marc Elias called the law "the first major suppression law since the 2020 election" and noted that litigation could be forthcoming.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/08/polit...owa/index.html

[Rewind]

In 2005, Georgia Republicans passed legislation allowing for no-excuse absentee voting. In the 2020 Presidential election, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in Georgia. The state's Retrumplicans have decided the legislation has to be undone. Under SB 241, anyone voting absentee would have to be at least 65 years old, absent from their precinct, observing a religious holiday, serving in the military or providing full-time care for someone with a physical disability. The "win-at-all-costs" Retrumplicans want to make it much harder for people to vote. They have no shame.

Georgia Senate approves sweeping election bill that would repeal no-excuse absentee voting

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/08/polit...ing/index.html

[Rewind]

Rather than try to come up with programs and policies that would win the support of voters in upcoming elections, Retrumplicans are instead doing everything possible to make it more difficult for Democrats and minorities to vote. The "win-at-all-costs" Retrumplicans have no shame.

Jimmy Carter 'disheartened, saddened and angry' over Georgia voting restriction efforts

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/09/polit...ent/index.html

[Rewind]

In Arizona, 24 bills restricting voting rights have been introduced by Retrumplicans since January 1. They will make it much more difficult for Democrats and minorities to cast a ballot. The "win-at-all-costs" Retrumplicans have no shame.

Arizona Republican lawmakers join GOP efforts to target voting, with nearly two dozen restrictive voting measures

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/11/polit...lls/index.html

[Rewind]

Retrumplicans are seeking to greatly restrict voting rights. They claim their efforts are intended to make elections safe and secure. They are lying. The 2020 Presidential election was the most safe and secure in our nation's history. What Retrumplicans are trying to do is make voting much more difficult for Democrats and minorities. The "win-at-all-costs" Retrumplicans have no shame.

Stacey Abrams on GOP efforts to target voting rights: 'Racist' and 'a redux of Jim Crow in a suit and tie'

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/14/polit...ntv/index.html

[Rewind]

Retrumplicans are facing a lot of backlash over their efforts to make it harder for minorities and Democrats to vote – or, in this case, I guess we could say "Blacklash."

The county attorney for a largely Black community in Georgia was pushing to limit voting access in the state. Residents there protested – and now he's out.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/17/us/ha...ign/index.html

[Rewind]

The many Retrumplican Governors and Congressmen who are trying to make it harder for minorities and Democrats to vote are insisting their proposed legislation is to preserve "election integrity." Of course the 2020 Presidential election was the most safe and secure in our nation's history but few Retrumplicans will admit that. Instead, they continue to parrot Trump's lies about "widespread voter fraud" and a "rigged, stolen election." They have no shame – and they are growing increasingly desperate as our nation's demographics change.

Analysis: Why Republican voter restrictions are a race against time
Ronald Brownstein, CNN Mar 23 2021 12:27 AM ET

With their drive to erect new obstacles to voting, particularly across the Sun Belt, Republicans are stacking sandbags against a rising tide of demographic change. In many of the states where Republicans are advancing the most severe restrictions – including Georgia, Arizona and Texas – shifts in the electorate's composition are eroding decades of virtually uncontested GOP dominance.

In each of those states – and others such as North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida – the GOP still holds a statewide advantage primarily because of its strong performance among older, non-college-educated and non-urban White voters. But in almost all those states, the Republican edge is ebbing amid two powerful demographic currents: an improving Democratic performance among white-collar voters in and around the states' rapidly growing major cities, and the aging into the electorate of younger generations defined by kaleidoscopic racial diversity.

That latter shift, in particular, represents an existential long-term danger to Republican control of Sun Belt states where they have held the upper hand for years: Kids of color now compose a clear majority of the under-18 population in Arizona, Texas, Georgia and Florida and nearly half in the Carolinas. Many analysts agree that the restrictions on voting proliferating in such states – and the prospect that many of them will also impose severe partisan gerrymanders before the 2022 elections – represent a race-against-time effort by Republicans to entrench their political advantage before it is eroded, or washed away entirely, by that approaching surge of demographic change.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/23/polit...ics/index.html

[Rewind]

Michigan Senator Mike Shirkey said Republicans "are committed to making it easier to vote and harder to cheat." He's lying. Republicans are committed to making it much harder for minorities and Democrats to cast a ballot. The "win-at-all-costs" Retrumplicans have no shame.

Michigan Republicans push for sweeping voting restrictions with new election bills

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/24/polit...hts/index.html

[Rewind]

S1, the "For The People Act," will expand voting rights nationwide. Senate Retrumplicans are, of course, 100% opposed to it. The measure passed the House but will never pass the Senate. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer castigated the Retrumplicans: "It's one of the most despicable things I have seen in all my years. Shame, shame, shame. Instead of doing what you should be doing when you lose an election in a democracy – attempting to win over those voters in the next election – Republicans instead are trying to disenfranchise those voters. Shame on them." In case you haven't noticed, Senator, the "win-at-all-costs" Retrumplicans have no shame.

'Shame, shame, shame': Schumer and McConnell spar over federal voting rights legislation

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/24/polit...ell/index.html

[Rewind]

Retrumplicans do not care about America. Retrumplicans do not care about democracy. Retrumplicans care about staying in power – and if that means making it much harder for minorities and Democrats to vote, so be it. The "win-at-all-costs" Retrumplicans have no shame.

"Un-American" and "sick": Biden slams state GOP's voting rights laws

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/...ck-sot-vpx.cnn