As we were watching the voting yesterday, we were reminded of the axiom that the more people that vote, the worse it is for Rethuglicans, so they do what they can to suppress voting. The prime example was watching people standing two, three hours and more in line to vote, in places like Austin, Texas -- a well-known progressive city and Dem stronghold. It happened elsewhere on college campuses in Texas, and Daily Kos cites one particularly bad case:
"Since 2012, Texas has closed 750 polling locations, the vast majority in the 50 counties with the largest black and Latino populations. Between 2012 and 2018, those counties lost 542 polling sites while at the same time saw their populations grow by 2.5 million. The 50 counties with the lowest populations of color only lost 34 polling locations, but also saw a population drop of 13,000. That's as casebook as it gets for voter suppression. The practical effect of that was Hervis Rogers, waiting more than six hours in line at Texas Southern University to cast his ballot. Until nearly 1:30 AM. "I wanted to get my vote in, voice my opinion. I wasn't going to let anything stop me, so I waited it out," Rogers said. He should not have had to. And for every Hervis Rogers who was able to wait in line for six hours, who knows how many couldn't and walked away." (our emphasis)People have families, child care, work schedules and other obligations that limit the times they can vote; Rethugs know this well, and exploit it. Keep in mind that the majority of the people that Rethugs want to discourage from voting are people of color and young people, who traditionally vote Dem. So, it's especially evil that, some 55 years after the Voting Rights Act was passed, right-wing Rethugs are still jamming the system to disenfranchise people.
Controlling the state government in places like Texas means Rethugs can manipulate not only voting districts by gerrymandering, but voting precincts, hours and identification requirements. That's precisely why Dems need to remember the importance of State Governors and legislative races in November, especially since this is the year of the decennial Census which is so important to decisions at the state level that affect political viability.
