Opinion/editoriai: GOP myths of election fraud stifle voting

Del. Matt Fariss spent a significant part of his most recent constituent news letter bragging about restricting the voting rights of Virginians. Of course, the Republican who represents parts of Albemarle and Nelson Counties didn’t couch it those terms. He reported that he and his GOP colleagues in the House of Delegates “passed legislation that secures our elections and strengthens voter confidence.”

The House passed a bill that reinstated a photo ID law for voters, which is something that voters ought to be able to deal with. From there, it was a deluge of disenfranchisement. One bill limits the time for people to submit an absentee ballot in-person to two weeks. It takes away the right to vote absentee in-person on Sundays. Another bill bans groups that send unsolicited absentee ballots to voters from filling in a voter’s’ information to make it easier to cast the ballot. Third-party groups that help with absentee voting must also tell voters that they are not a government agency. And finally, the House passed a law that ends automatic retention of absentee ballot lists and forces voters to reapply each year.

The Daily Progress asked Fariss which specific examples of Virginia voter misconduct made these impediments to casting a ballot necessary. He did not respond. 

The truth is there are no examples of fraud in the state that justify making it harder to vote. What drives this flurry of turnout busting is a lie. Actually, it is better known as Donald Trump’s Big Lie that voter fraud cost him the 2020 presidential election.

After dozens of audits and law suits, no evidence exists that cheating allowed Democrat Joe Biden to beat Trump. Unless you believe record-setting turnout, the one-person, one-vote bedrock of a democratic republic, constitutes illegal behavior. If you do, then you don’t believe in democracy, and you are the one defrauding the system.

Wasn’t it Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin who complained about putting lipstick on a pig?

The constant lie about voter fraud is painting Republicans as red as a $33 tube of Estee Lauder.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin joined in the disinformation campaign in January. He went on a conservative talk show whose host supports Trump and announced plans to “clean house” at the Virginia Board of Elections. Youngkin promised to get rid of Election Commissioner Chris Piper when his term ends this summer.

“We in fact fully expect that when the current commissioner’s term is up that we will replace him,” Youngkin said. . “We have to make sure the leadership that’s in the Department of Elections is leadership that is looking out for the integrity of the election process and not trying to be political.”

We have talked before in this space about the propaganda strategy of projection where you accuse others of wrongdoing when you are actually the one subverting the system. Youngkin’s talk show quote stands as a perfect example.

Texans already feel the fallout from voter suppression initiatives driven by that state’s Republican governor and GOP-dominated legislature. An analysis of absentee ballots for a March 1 Texas primary by Washington Post reporter Amy Gardner revealed that thousands of ballots have been rejected. The reason why is confusion over a newly applied requirement for a special identification number on each ballot. Applications for ballots require an identical number. 

The upshot is chaos and the real chance that votes of legitimately registered citizens will be denied by lies about widespread voter fraud, which is also not prevalent in Texas. 

Proposals for voter suppression in Virginia have not yet reached the scale of Texas. We fear that is only because Democrats still control the state Senate. Meanwhile, truth gathers digital dust because it does not support the Republican myth of fraud spun by Trump. 

The truth is found in the results of a risk limiting audit the Virginia Department of Elections performed after the 2020 election. The audit report published in March 2021 showed “a .00000065117% chance that the outcome of the Presidential election in Virginia was inaccurate.”

If that is not enough proof that this state has no business making it harder to cast a vote, our democracy is in deep trouble.