Republicans had a very busy year suppressing voting rights all over the United States, but beginning in 2022, they will start pulling up their socks to continue their efforts further.
The GOP has already started crafting voting suppression proposals in different states that they will pursue in 2022 to prepare themselves for the midterm elections.
Republicans Ready to Introduce New Voting Restrictions in Five States in 2022
New Hampshire Republicans have proposed changes in the way the votes are counted in the state. They believe that hand-counting of the ballots will help the state reduce so-called voter fraud efforts, which pushes them to pursue the same.
Florida has gone one step forward in using the state powers to curb voter rights. Reportedly, the state will establish a law enforcement unit capable of investigating voting fraud allegations.
All of these measures are motivated by the voter fraud rhetoric of former President Donald Trump, who tried hard to undermine the authenticity of the 2020 elections.
These efforts of the Republican party will not surprise many, as most people have now associated them with these practices. In 2021 alone, the GOP lawmakers passed 33 voting suppression acts in 19 states.
And to no surprise, Republicans in five states, including New Hampshire, Florida, Oklahoma, Tennesse, and South Carolina, have filed the bills even though the next legislative sessions are yet to start.
Thus, the GOP has successfully managed to continue the efforts before the start of the new year.
In addition, in more than 20 states, almost 245 voting suppression bills are likely to be carried out next year that will help the party in extending its suppressive regimes.
As Democrats have already struggled to federalize the elections, primarily due to their own inability to eliminate the filibuster, they now have few options to resist most of these bills at the state levels.
As elections in the United States are mostly controlled by states, all Republican-led legislatures had enough assertiveness to suppress the vote in a partisan manner.
It is imperative to note that the same lawmakers in these states pursued gerrymandering, which has already tilted the elections in Republicans’ favor. Thus for them, allowing voter suppression regimes will not be something seen as an out-of-the-box approach.
Democrats Resisting but of no Use
Democrats also did their bit of efforts to stop Republicans from pursuing this path, but of little success.
For instance, the likes of Stacey Abrams of Georgia managed to register a lot of voters in the last decade; still, state Republicans seem to settle the score using their voting suppression bill of Georgia that would curb voting access to the residents.
Georgians will no longer be able to vote early in many areas, apart from the fact that many Black voters are already being pushed into the constituencies where their voices will matter less.
Most Republican states are revolving around the same procedure of curbing the voting rights, i.e., to reduce mail-in voting and early voting systems, eliminating as many vote drop boxes as possible, suppressing election officials by penalizing them, empowering partisan poll workers and state legislatures in overseeing the elections.
Thus with different names in each state, the Republican lawmakers will be passing the same sorts of laws everywhere.
Final Thoughts
While most states pursued the legislative path to suppress voter rights, others had been busy pouring taxpayers’ money into curbing their own voices.
For instance, Texas recently allocated $4 million to the office of the Texas Secretary of State, specifically for the election audit purposes in four counties every two years.
Republicans have decided not to hold back from their repressive regimes, making them at the epicenter of killing the fundamental right to vote.
Eli is a Political Data Scientist with over thirty years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, and Digital Marketing. Eli uses his expertise to give the latest information and distinctive analysis on US Political News, US Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, and Racial Justice equipping readers with the inequivalent knowledge.