QOTD -- Election Nullification, Georgia Style

"... [I]f this law had been in place, Donald Trump absolutely might have succeeded in overturning the election in Georgia because his biggest Republican critic in Georgia was the secretary of state, (Brad Raffensperger)…. If the Republican legislature in Georgia had wanted to overturn the will of the voters, they could have done that through control of the State Board of Elections and through leaning on county board of elections. And this is why they have made this such a big part of the bill. [snip]

"A lot of things got the headlines, right, Rachel? Not being able to give people food and water, trying to cut back on early voting — those kinds of things got the headlines. But I think the real purpose here was to intensify control over how every aspect of elections are run in Georgia. So, when there are close elections in the future — which they know there will be — they will have unprecedented power to challenge the election results and to decline to certify them if they don't like who the winner is." -- journalist Ari Berman on "The Rachel Maddow Show" Thursday, commenting on a less- noted provision in the recently- signed Georgia voter suppression law paving the way for the Republican state legislature to change election results through control of the board of elections.  It should be noted other Republican- controlled states are proposing similar provisions. (our emphasis)

(Photo:  Georgia Gov. Brian "KK" Kemp signs voter suppression law, witnessed by six white Republicans and a portrait of a plantation.  Their white sheets must be in the laundry.)

Quotes Of The Day -- Thievery

In the recent mid- terms, Democrats won 7 Governorships formerly held by Republicans; gained approximately 350 State legislative seats; and overall cast 9.6 million more votes in Congressional races than Republicans. So, what was the reaction of Republicans to this electoral drubbing?  The same as always: continue to lie, cheat and steal.

Dana Milbank/WaPo

What the efforts have in common is thievery: the alleged theft of Democratic votes in the North Carolina case and, in the Wisconsin and Michigan power grabs, a more open heist of authority. What Republicans didn’t win at the polls, they would seek to preserve by pilfering.

WaPo editorial board

The GOP’s underhanded dealing in Wisconsin and Michigan is just the latest in a trend of Republicans upending principles of good government and democratic accountability for political gain. The party’s massive resistance to President Barack Obama culminated in a debt-ceiling fiasco and an improperly denied Supreme Court seat. Republicans in state after state have imposed new election rules designed to deter Democrats from voting. North Carolina Republicans stripped powers from the governor after they lost the 2016 gubernatorial election, a dirty play that has poisoned the state’s politics. There’s a common thread: Unable to change voters’ minds, they choose instead to change the rules.

Ari Berman/Mother Jones

But now Republicans in four key swing states—Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and North Carolina—are undertaking unprecedented efforts in lame-duck legislative sessions to strip newly elected Democratic officials of their power to oversee state voting laws and rushing to pass new laws that will make it harder to vote. [snip] 

Republicans in all four of these states owe their majorities partly to extreme partisan gerrymandering. Ohio Republicans barely got 50 percent of the vote in last month’s elections, but hold a supermajority in the Legislature, while Republicans in Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina got a minority of votes but control a majority of seats. Now, by stripping power from Democratic officials who won a majority of votes and enacting laws making it harder to vote, they are further enshrining minority rule.  

BONUS:  Welp. The chicanery virus has been observed on Long Island, too.