Democrats are working arduous to get out the vote. From Vice President Kamala Harris <\/span>visiting rural Georgia<\/a>, to Gov. Tim Walz <\/span>hyping up<\/a> a union crowd in Milwaukee, to 34,000 Taylor Swift followers becoming a member of a Zoom fundraising name and <\/span>entering<\/a> their \u201cSwifties for Kamala\u201d period, the efforts are paying off.\u00a0In distinction, former President Donald Trump and Gov. JD Vance <\/span>stayed off the campaign trail<\/a> for Labor Day, and Trump has no upcoming occasions on <\/span>his schedule<\/a> till Sept. 7.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As a substitute of making an attempt to get their supporters to the polls, the GOP is falling again on acquainted ways: voter suppression and unsupported claims of voter fraud.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Main the best way, as normal, is Texas\u2014although they\u2019re not alone. However earlier than diving into simply how unhealthy issues are getting, it\u2019s vital to do not forget that whereas voter suppression is actual, voter fraud on any significant scale is completely not. It\u2019s been <\/span>debunked<\/a> and <\/span>debunked<\/a> and <\/span>debunked<\/a>. Even in the event you simply take a look at swing states, or use the <\/span>breathless reporting<\/a> from the hyper-conservative Heritage Basis, the numbers actually don’t add up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Nothing about these uncontroverted information means a factor to Texas Legal professional Common Ken Paxton, who’s overseeing an nearly comically evil assault on voters in his state. Paxton is <\/span>convinced<\/a> that President Joe Biden solely received the 2020 election due to widespread voter fraud. Now, Paxton\u2019s \u201cElection Integrity\u201d unit is making certain the integrity of the 2024 election by having a number of <\/span>armed officers<\/a> execute a search warrant and seize the possessions of individuals like 87-year-old Lidia Martinez, whose ostensible crime appears to be registering individuals to vote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Tuesday, the League of United Latin American Residents, of which Martinez has been a member for over 35 years, referred to as a press convention <\/span>asking<\/a> that the Division of Justice step in. The group, which is the oldest and largest Latino civil rights group within the U.S., additionally despatched <\/span>a letter<\/a> to the DOJ late final month after Martinez\u2019s residence was raided. LULAC mentioned that 4 different members of the group have been <\/span>similarly targeted<\/a> by Paxton.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In response to Paxton, LULAC members are <\/span>being investigated<\/a> for \u201callegations of election fraud and vote harvesting that occurred in the course of the 2022 elections.\u201d There\u2019s so much to unpack there. First, election fraud is just not a factor. Bear in mind the way it was a lot not a factor that even Trump\u2019s handpicked \u201cvoting integrity\u201d fee <\/span>couldn\u2019t find<\/a> proof of it?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Subsequent, \u201cvote harvesting\u201d is only a scary-sounding time period for the <\/span>perfectly banal act<\/a> of amassing absentee ballots and bringing them to polling locations or election places of work. It\u2019s solely within the GOP world, the place extra voter turnout equals much less of an opportunity they win, that making certain extra individuals get to vote is a nasty factor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lastly, these allegations date not from efforts throughout this election however from the 2022 midterms. It takes so much to imagine that Paxton spent two lengthy, cautious years investigating and solely simply managed to wrap it up in time for the 2024 election. As a substitute, it seems to be so much like what LULAC calls it: <\/span>voter intimidation<\/a>. Many individuals are going to suppose twice about serving to to register voters if the subsequent step is a daybreak raid by armed officers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Paxton can be <\/span>threatening<\/a> to sue Bexar and Harris Counties\u2014each of which <\/span>went handily<\/a> for President Joe Biden within the <\/span>2020 election<\/a>\u2014over their efforts to ship voter registration playing cards to everybody. So, to recap: Paxton doesn’t need personal teams to assist individuals register to vote. He additionally doesn’t need the federal government to assist individuals register to vote\u2014nicely, a minimum of the federal government in blue counties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Paxton can\u2019t do all of this voter suppression alone, nonetheless. Fortunately for the GOP, Texas additionally has Gov. Greg Abbott, who’s busy <\/span>bragging about<\/a> eradicating over 1 million voters from the state rolls since 2021. Cleansing up voter rolls is a standard course of, and states must take away individuals who transfer or die. Certainly, the variety of voters Texas faraway from its rolls this time <\/span>isn\u2019t uncommon<\/span> <\/span>compared to<\/a> earlier elections.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However by highlighting this massive purge so near the election\u2014and just a few days after the LULAC raids\u2014Abbott is insinuating there’s something nefarious that he’s working to cease. Truly, he\u2019s simply coming proper out and saying that, for instance, 1000’s of <\/span>noncitizens<\/a> have been suspected of voting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If this sounds acquainted, it\u2019s as a result of in 2019, Texas made a loud splash when it flagged a staggering <\/span>95,000 voters<\/a> for \u201ccitizenship evaluation,\u201d <\/span>alleging<\/a> that \u201ctens of 1000’s of noncitizens\u201d weren’t simply registered to vote, however had beforehand voted. It took just a few days for this to begin falling aside, with the state having to nearly <\/span>immediately admit<\/a> that 25,000 individuals have been on the record by mistake, and lots of have been residents. The whole affair ended with a whimper, with Texas agreeing to rescind the advisory as a part of <\/span>a settlement<\/a> in three lawsuits introduced in opposition to the state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ohio can be getting in on the motion, with Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose additionally flagging alleged noncitizens. Very like Texas, although, this falls aside, with a number of the alleged noncitizens really being <\/span>recently naturalized citizens<\/a> who’re due to this fact absolutely eligible to vote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n LaRose retains sending voter fraud referrals to investigators, however the state has seen solely 13 convictions throughout a number of elections. Because the Ohio Capital Journal put it, this could imply Ohio\u2019s voter fraud charge is <\/span>about .0001%<\/a>, as over 14 million state ballots have been solid in that point.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In states that don\u2019t have a authorities keen to assault its personal residents for making an attempt to vote, there are personal right-wing teams like United Sovereign People inflicting bother. The group has introduced lawsuits in <\/span>Pennsylvania<\/a> and <\/span>Maryland<\/a>, alleging these states have mismanaged their voter registration and rolls. E<\/span>xplicitly stating<\/a> its purpose is to problem voter rolls in a number of states, hoping to get completely different rulings from completely different federal courts, the group is thus forcing the Supreme Court docket to step in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It isn\u2019t shocking that Republicans are having to resort to improper voter purges and off, long-debunked allegations of voter fraud. When Trump took full management of the Republican Nationwide Committee <\/span>earlier this year<\/a>, certainly one of his first acts was to shift assets away from Financial institution Your Vote, a 50-state RNC effort to encourage early voting. This echoes Trump\u2019s <\/span>2020 rhetoric<\/a>, the place he saved trashing his personal social gathering\u2019s GOTV efforts by attacking mail-in voting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Couple that with the truth that Trump has spent <\/span>over $80 million<\/a> in tremendous PAC cash on his authorized charges as an alternative of on working for president, and it’s straightforward to see why the GOP\u2019s finest path ahead is stopping individuals from voting.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"PROVO](\"https:\/\/cdn.prod.dailykos.com\/images\/1320647\/large\/GettyImages-1244610163.jpg?1720733836\" "\\"PROVO")
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