All of the hot news coverage these days is about GOP legislatures passing restrictive voting laws that would allow them to strip the state of non partisan or elected state, county, and local election officials, and assign them to partisan political hacks, making it easier for a future Trump to overturn election results. News Flash. They’ve already done it.
A week or so ago, the Virginia Democrats held their primary for the 2021 Governor’s race in November. Former Governor Terry McAuliffe won the chance for a second bite of the gubernatorial apple. More importantly, Democratic turnout for the primary was a whopping 8%, which was the highest turnout in decades, and gave Democrats a warm-fuzzy that their voter intensity might be holding up just fine. And the GOP?
I dunno. And neither do you. And neither does anybody else with 12 functioning brain cells. Because for some reason, in their infinite wisdom, the Virginia state party decided to not have a primary. Instead, they chose to have a nominating convention, except that they didn’t have one of those either, since they were too cheap to spring for a ballroom at the Holiday Inn Manassas.
Instead, they held a weekend drive up balloting process. But not for you, schmuck! You couldn’t just be a registered GOP voter, you had to receive an invitation, with instructions as to when and where the drive up locations were. And yes, this was the primary with the Q-Clown who called herself Trump in heels, and told voters not to accept the results if she didn’t win. News Flash! She didn’t win.
Now, don’t get me wrong. It is the state parties that determine the criteria for their own primary processes. But state parties tend to be sedentary, they pick a method, and then they stick with it. Imagine the Iowa GOP suddenly switching their primaries from a caucus to a Bingo tournament. The only logical conclusion you can come to for all of these contortions was that the Virginia GOP wanted to preselect the outcome of their primary.
But here’s where the wicket gets sticky. In most red states, where Trump is still King Shit, the state GOP organizations are going balls-to-the-wall to back Trumpmania. But I get the feeling that this might not be the best way forward for the Virginia GOP.
Over the last few cycles, the GOP is starting to see their almost monolithic dominance in Virginia coming to an end. The state has gone from red to pink, to purple, and now to blue. Without a state legislative advantage to gerrymander the map this year, that only figures to get worse. It has become clear to the party that maybe this isn’t the best year to have Trump in heels on the ballot if they want to stay competitive in Virginia. And so they used their power to rig the vote to make sure that they at least had a fighting shot in November, considering that a straight up primary, with an overwhelming Trump base voter turnout, may have brought a different outcome.
This is why it is mandatory that whatever voting rights act passes the Senate, it includes a clause that puts the state tallying of votes in a federal election under federal supervision. These state laws are all over the place, each crafted to make it easier for that particular state to rig the results. It is up to the Democrats to ensure through legislation that the playing field is leveled, as well as establishing uniformity to the certifying of the electoral college results, both in the states, as well as in the congress.
Look folks, go big or go home. The GOP has made their strategy clear. And because the GOP is greedy, the states that pass restrictive voting laws will use that for their own state benefit first. The GOP is dying. Their base is old, and getting older. Trump reactivated a dormant portion of the party, but his influence is waning. On inauguration day, 70% of GOP voters thought that Trump was the legitimate President. Today that number is at 53% and still shrinking. The GOP’s last hope is to rig the system to create a permanent GOP majority in the House, and then try to retrench and regroup. We can’t let that happen.
Follow me on Twitter at @RealMurfster35
I had to go to another county to get my driver’s license. How is the I’D requirements for voting not unconstitutional? Too, though I can vote by mail because I’m old I would have to have a Notary for my signature. I live in a town that doesn’t even have a DMV anymore and they think I can get a Notary to come to my house? The I’D cost me $42 and my dignity. They put Moscow Mitch’s picture on MY ID. How is all this deal legal?
“This is why it is mandatory that whatever voting rights act passes the Senate, it includes a clause that puts the state tallying of votes in a federal election under federal supervision. These state laws are all over the place, each crafted to make it easier for that particular state to rig the results. It is up to the Democrats to ensure through legislation that the playing field is leveled, as well as establishing uniformity to the certifying of the electoral college results, both in the states, as well as in the congress.”
Murf, as you yourself note, “state laws are all over the place” so how do expect “red” states to play fair if THEY get to set the rules for their state and local elections? The feds need to require a certain minimum standard for ALL states when it comes to voting laws (the feds already banned the use of poll taxes and literacy tests albeit by constitutional amendment). I’m not talking about who can vote in a GOP or Democratic primary (although party registration or declaring the intent to vote in one bars you from voting in the other party’s run-off if one happens) or when a state holds its primary elections but the whole deal with voting by mail and early voting need to be uniform regardless of what state you live in (or are registered to vote in). Also, voting rolls need to be uniform and require more action on the part of the state before removing a voter from the rolls (Arizona GOPers were considering going door-to-door to find out if and how residents voted in the presidential election as part of their fraudit so the idea that it’s “too costly” to do something similar to find out if the residents are still duly registered is absurd).