Voter ID Laws — A “Solution” In Search Of A Problem
One of the most pernicious and partisan of the many hoaxes perpetrated by the GOP is that there is an epidemic of voter fraud in the U.S. Based upon this false narrative, the GOP has passed a wave of voter identification and suppression laws in 31 states.
Here in Nebraska, the Republicans have perpetrated this fraud by trying to pass a voter identification law in the legislature. These efforts have been blocked by a Democratic filibuster for years. As a consequence of that failure, the Nebraska GOP has launched a petition drive aimed at passing a Constitutional amendment that would require voters to present a photo ID at the polls.
The reality is that voter fraud is virtually non-existent. Here in Nebraska, proponents of voter ID have been unable to identify a single case of in-person voter fraud in the entire history of the state.
Similarly, other states have rarely — if ever — encountered in-person voter fraud. This was verified by a commission set up by the Trump Administration to investigate alleged voter fraud and to validate Trump’s false claim that he lost the 2016 popular vote due to alleged voter fraud. This commission was disbanded in 2018 after it failed to prove Trump’s false allegations.
Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, a member of the commission, reviewed the documents supplied by the commission and said that: “They do not contain evidence of widespread voter fraud.” Dunlap was puzzled why the GOP members of the commission continued to make claims that voter fraud was widespread. “Where are the indictments, where are the prosecutions?” Dunlap asked.
Dunlap’s findings on the lack of voter fraud have been evident for years. The Bush Administration conducted a five year investigation of alleged voter fraud and found virtually no evidence of any efforts to influence elections. A 2014 study by Loyola Law School found only 31 incidents of in-person voter fraud since 2000 out of 1 billion ballots cast. In the 2016 election cycle, there were only four reported cases of in-person voter fraud out of 135 million ballots cast.
The Republicans who have supported these laws have openly admitted that they were passed to depress Democratic turnout and help Republicans win elections. In 2015, Wisconsin passed a voter identification/suppression law that was intended to discourage potential Democratic voters. A former Republican staffer for the Wisconsin legislature said: “ A handful of the GOP Senators were giddy about the ramifications and literally singled out the prospects of suppressing minority and college voters. Think about that for a minute. Elected officials planning and happy to help deny a fellow American’s constitutional right to vote in order to increase their own chances to hang onto power.”
The Wisconsin voter suppression law worked as intended in 2016 and made it possible for Trump to be the first Republican to carry that state since 1984. Approximately 45,000 voters in Wisconsin were unable to vote due to that state’s voter ID law and Trump carried the state by 23,000 votes.
Four years earlier in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, the state GOP Party chairman boasted in an interview that the Keystone State’s voter ID law “had helped a bit” in reducing President Obama’s margin of victory over Mitt Romney in the state.
The wave of voter ID and voter suppression laws that are being passed in red states are also based upon Trump’s big lie that he won the 2020 election. (Now If Trump won the 2020 election, he’s not eligible to run for a third term in 2024. I digress.) The reality is that Trump went 1–61 in the post election litigation. Numerous Trump and GOP appointed judges rejected Trump’s frivolous lawsuits.
Trump appointed officials at DHS said the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history.” Trump Attorney General William Barr said that the former TV reality star’s election fraud claims were all “bullshit.” Barr also said in December 2020: “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”
Despite undergoing numerous death threats from Trump followers, Republican elected officials in the battleground states said Biden won fair and square. In addition, Fox News, One America Network and Newsmax all retracted their election fraud claims.
The reality is that the Nebraska GOP’s voter ID law is based upon a hoax and Trump’s big lie. Whatever you do, please don’t sign it. We must defeat this hyper-partisan petition aimed at continuing the GOP’s reign of error in Nebraska. We can win if we educate the voters. We can do it! Let’s get it done!