How to Stop the GOP from Stealing the Midterms

by Scott L.

As the midterm elections get closer and the poll numbers for the regime continue to plummet, an understandable question arises: Will the Republicans steal the midterm elections?

The short answer? They will most certainly try.

Not surprisingly, Republicans depend on a big turnout from their base in order to win elections. But that is not sufficient. That’s why they also employ a variety of unethical and/or illegal voter suppression tactics — designed to eliminate any Democratic advantage. For this midterm, since Trump isn’t on the ballot and the regime and their agenda are incredibly unpopular, many GOP voters will likely stay home. This leaves voter suppression as critical for red states to dilute the vote enough to claim victory. The good news is that Democrats can overcome this by turning out an overwhelming number of voters — too large for these unethical and often illegal tactics to work.

The most recent example of the GOP’s schemes to steal the election is the SAVE America Act. Although it is ostensibly a bill to prevent illegal voting in elections (something that numerous studies have repeatedly proven to be basically non-existent), the GOP bill will actually disenfranchise a significant number of legal voters — on both the right and the left. But it will diminish voting on the left in particular — as it targets women and minorities. As of now, with Democrats united against the bill, it has little chance of passing because it doesn’t have the 60 votes to pass the procedural cloture vote to end debate on the bill. Distressingly, 50 Republican Senators are on record as supporting the bill — and some are even pushing to eliminate the filibuster so as to allow it to pass!

One could say there is already a degree of voter suppression in national elections, as election day isn’t a national holiday and there’s no universal national ID that would automatically register you to vote — as exists in a number of developed countries. But we have learned to accommodate that. The much bigger problem is that states can further reduce voter rolls even without draconian federal legislation such as the SAVE America act. Here are a few examples of these tactics, primarily used by GOP-controlled state governments:

1. Even before voting day begins, the biggest target for suppression is the existing voter rolls. States can aggressively kick voters off the rolls for minor discrepancies or not voting in previous elections, forcing voters to re-register which can also be made significantly more difficult by reducing the ways citizens can re-register (reducing locations or hours for in-person registrations at offices, or limiting registration via mail). This is often referred to as ‘voter caging’ and investigative journalists like Greg Palast have done extensive research on the states practicing this tactic. They will seldom inform the voter if they’ve been removed, so prospective voters need to call their state or county to make sure they are registered well in advance.
2. Another tactic is to make the voting process itself more cumbersome. This can happen intentionally or otherwise, and has been evident in the recent Texas voting primary — as thousands of voters have been subject to delays and often forced to use provisional ballots — due to numerous address discrepancies derived from a recent system change in the databases of state and county election boards. Provisional ballots are particularly targeted for exclusion, as we’ll discuss later.
3. Once you are registered to vote, the next target kicks in — which is to reduce the number of ways and timeframes you can vote. This can involve reducing the number of polling places available, reducing early voting and recently and eliminating mail-in voting — all at the behest of the regime. This especially affects voters of color and those at lower incomes who may have to travel hours on a workday. However, in some states, policies like this can backfire, affecting GOP working class and rural voters more.
4. Next, the supposedly non-partisan poll watchers at voting sites are now being replaced by with partisans, almost exclusively on the right, that serve to scare and intimidate would-be voters. Recently, rumors from right wing media have suggested that ICE might be monitoring polling places on Election Day! This has engendered enough concern on Capitol Hill that the interim director of ICE was asked if there were any plans to do this, which he denied. However, the likely next head of the Department of Homeland Security would not rule this out.
5. Added to all of this, from now until election day, there is certain to be a flood of social media posts — filled with misinformation, fake videos and deliberate lies — from foreign and domestic sources but primarily from those supporting the GOP. These are designed to foment division and dissension and to discourage voting altogether — no matter which candidate you support.
6. Once the election polls close, the last tactics of voter suppression kick in. While interference in ballot counting is itself not a concern, it’s after the ballots are counted that the danger emerges. One tactic is to have a judge throw out provisional ballots as invalid, effectively eliminating the will of thousands of American voters without justification.

The ultimate goal of all of this to help keep political power in the hands of the Trump regime and the GOP. So what can those of us intent on protecting democracy and overthrowing the regime at the ballot box do? Here’s what:

The first thing is to not be discouraged. Do not lose hope. Do not give up! The regime wants you to think that their nationalist Reich is all-powerful and will be everlasting, but it’s really a poster child for cargo-cult fascism and is extremely brittle in nature. We have already seen incidents of pushback in play from citizens, Congress and the courts where the resistance and deference to the administration is shifting. There’s still a marathon to win — so we can’t take our eyes off the prize to remake this democracy for the general welfare of all individuals in this country. Constant vigilance is the price of democracy.

Here in the East Bay, this isn’t quite as much of a worry at the federal level, though it can be a challenge at the local level. But elsewhere in America, there are likely tens of thousands of would-be voters who can benefit from being informed about voter suppression efforts and who can then go on to vote and determine the makeup of the House and Senate after November. To accomplish this, we know many of you will volunteer to phone bank or text bank to prospective voters in critical races. Great!

More generally, be aware of GOP efforts to undermine voting in each state and work to get prospective voters registered and confirmed early. Reach out to support organizations — such as Indivisible chapters in targeted states — to get updated information and assist in helping get people to the polls.

And, of course, contact your representatives in Congress to pressure them to do anything and everything possible to defeat the SAVE act.

Finally, once the midterms are over and the smoke clears, there will likely be lawsuits — contesting the outcome of close races, arguing over illegal shenanigans to throw ballots out, and generally combatting false claims of voter fraud. We will have to fight tooth and nail to preserve every valid vote.

Remember above all else: Democrats win when we turn up in overwhelming numbers — too large to overcome any and all voter suppression efforts. It’s our job to make sure every possible eligible Democratic voter shows up at the polls! Power to the People!