Aug 30, 2016

Trump Adds Voice to Attack on Voting Rights

USW International Vice President Fred Redmond and progressive talk show host Leslie Marshall this week discussed the ways in which Republicans have attempted to use voter suppression laws to rig elections.

Common voter suppression tactics include onerous voter ID laws, the elimination of early voting and restrictions on voter registration.

Republican legislatures in a variety of states, including Wisconsin, Texas, North Carolina, and North Dakota, have implemented these changes with the express purpose of limiting the number of people who vote, especially among Democratic-leaning populations like the minorities and students.

“The trend is always that when people vote, the Democrats win,” said Redmond. “When the turnout is small, the Republicans win. So it’s definitely not to the Republicans’ advantage to do what we should be doing as a country: making it easier for people to vote.

“Suppressing the vote is to their strategic advantage. So they’re doing everything they can to make sure fewer people vote in this country.”

Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, also likes to insinuate that voter fraud is rampant and that the only way he could possibly lose the election is if the system is broken, ignoring the fact that in-person voter fraud is almost entirely non-existent.

He’s also explicitly called on his supporters to go to polls in minority neighborhoods.

“It’s almost reminiscent of back door Jim Crowe days in the South, where blacks were granted the right to vote, but white supremacists showed up on election day in force and intimidated blacks not to come to the polls,” said Redmond.

Trump’s strategy is “obviously nothing but a blatant intimidation tactic.”

To hear the full audio, click the link below.