GOP Attacks Voting Rights: Where's the Party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, et al

Right to vote under sustained GOP attack

(All across GOP-run RED states)

What happened to that kind of leadership

(Those days are long gone)

Three branches of separate but equal government are the backbone of our democracy – except when Republicans get on their ultra-high horses about the 2020 election and follow Trump. Case in point redistricting election lines to fit the population shifts, gains and such like this in Ohio with this headline from The Guardian:

“How Ohio Republicans dodged court rulings to keep gerrymandered maps”

The Background: The OH Supreme Court struck down the map for the state’s 15 congressional districts, saying they were so distorted in favor of Republicans that they violated the state constitution.

It was the seventh time this year the court has struck down either a congressional or state legislative map this year (it has struck down the congressional map twice and state legislative districts five times).

Despite those rulings, Republicans have maneuvered to keep both the congressional and state legislative maps in place for this fall’s election. 

It has set up an extraordinary circumstance in Ohio: Voters will cast ballots for federal and state representation this fall in districts that are unconstitutional.

All across the country we are seeing this kind craziness that tells voters that our right to vote in a free, fair, safe, and election are in real jeopardy and even when we vote that vote may not count if GOP-controlled states don’t like the results that keep them out of office – simply stated GOP-run places are changing the rules to make sure they never ever lose again regardless of the election outcome.

Added to all that above is this historical voting rights case pending at the United States Supreme Court for their next term from.

The case is from NC and it overall potentially is the biggest threat to our democracy since the January 6 insurrection, or perhaps even the Civil War itself.

The case pending is Moore v. Harper.

If it swings for GOP-run NC, it could concentrate an unprecedented amount of power in gerrymandered state legislatures.

This case should alarm anyone who cares about our democracy, our right to vote, and to be assured that our vote will count.

The case seeks to reinstate gerrymandered congressional maps that were struck down by North Carolina’s Supreme Court.

They wrote: “The realignment subordinated traditional neutral redistricting criteria in favor of extreme partisan advantage for the Republican Party.”

What is scary about the USSC agreeing to hear the challenge is that it could get worse nationally. If the Supreme Court’s conservative majority (now 6-3) gives credence to that which is now known as the: “Independent State Legislature” case which BTW is fewer than 25 years old.

Also, for most of its life, has been relegated to the fringes of academia with these three main points paramount:

· Partisan gerrymandering could get more extreme.

· Federal elections could be turned on its head.

· States could reject election results they don't like, favor, or want by inserting new GOP numbers that reverse real ones.

This means that the Trump owned and operated GOP and this ultra-conservative court (all post-2020 election from Trump) could in essence wreck our current free, fair, safe, and secure voting system by inserting their lopsided state legislative set of rules to “win and stay in power no matter what the vote outcome says.” 

My 2 Cents: I fully understand the concept of the people’s right to vote and choose the kind of government they want and the concept of state and federal powers being separate but equal, etc. 

But, at the same time we all must consider the impact of passing Moore into law and what if would mean all across the country.

That is this in simple terms: We now can vote in a free, fair, safe, and secure election (as we do 99% of the time). 

Then after this ruling we will see that our vote is tossed aside and replaced with some sort of Trump-style 2020 conspiracy theory rules that say the vote was rigged or fraudulent and that our side, our candidate(s) won regardless of and despite the real vote outcome.

Plus, and perhaps worse is the fact that the new law, and the courts, election officials, and the state executive cannot and must not go against our wishes.

In short, your vote will not matter – just our new system matters and that says in layman terms: “We will get or stay in office no matter what the vote and voters say otherwise.”

So, are you ready for that Mr. and Mrs. America? 

That is watching our democracy traded for anarchy and flushing our 246 years as a great nation down the toilet by twisted and narrow-minded GOP sycophant Trump-style radicals bent on keeping power to themselves no matter what or how.

Thanks for stopping by.