Jacob Wohl (left) and Jack Burkman (right) in 2018
This act of voter suppression by two right-wing political operatives is part of a larger-scale effort by the Republican party to coerce minority voters from sending mail-in ballots. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, millions of voters are choosing to utilize mail-in voting to limit the contact between individuals that occurs with in-person voting. Only days before Wohl and Burkman allegedly made robocalls to scare off minority voters, President Trump had again criticized mail-in voting during Tuesday's presidential debate. These kinds of voter suppression efforts aimed at minority voters are part of a larger systematic voter suppression effort by the Republican party. The Republican party believes the only way to maintain its political power and influence is to reduce the minority vote either by discouraging them from voting or outright voter suppression. In a statement released by Dana Nessel, Michigan's attorney general, she says that the message sent by these right-wing conservatives "'poses grave consequences for our democracy and the principles upon which it was built.'" I agree. These political operatives are undermining the fundamental principles of democracy to maintain their party's power. How can we stop these kinds of political operatives without holding the leaders of the Republican party responsible?
I think that the only way to stop voter suppression is to hold the leaders of the Republican Party responsible. We need to call out this issue and make Republicans realize that democracy cannot be a partisan value. Investigating voter suppression and charging its operatives with felonies is essential, because if we don’t hold these people responsible, we are turning a blind eye to injustice. I wish that the right to vote would be something we could all agree on, and I know that making voter suppression into a partisan issue only causes more division and polarization, but it’s impossible not to do so when the leader of the Republican Party himself, President Trump, is largely responsible for it: making false claims that voting by mail is fraudulent and encouraging his supporters to poll-monitor are definite forms of voter suppression, and spreading these ideas throughout his party makes it a partisan issue. Moreover, like Simran said, voter suppression is at the heart of Republican electoral strategy: according to the NY Times, “The Republican program, which has gained steam in recent weeks, envisions recruiting up to 50,000 volunteers in 15 key states to monitor polling places and challenge ballots and voters deemed suspicious… The efforts are bolstered by a 2018 federal court ruling that for the first time in nearly four decades allows the national Republican Party to mount campaigns against purported voter fraud without court approval.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/Voting-republicans-trump.html) These “suspicious” voters include mostly POC, especially black people. Clearly, the case in Michigan is a perfect example of this, of Republicans suppressing the minority vote. Voter suppression is an issue threatening the foundations of democracy itself, and we must bring attention to it by calling out and holding responsible the individuals and legislation that propagate it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Republicans have made voting a partisan issue when it should not be. President Trump has attempted to discredit mail-in voting throughout these past months, and by doing so has actively participated in the larger voter suppression scheme by the Republican party. It is wrong and it needs to stop for the sake of our country and our democratic principles.
DeleteI agree with Ella’s point that voting has wrongly become a partisan stand which is hurting American democracy and trying to shake its foundation. I think one of the biggest problems in american politics today is the lack of facts of reality and science playing a part in politician’s agenda and outlook. You can see that in this problem in Mail-In voting as it has been proven with scientific data that it is not prone to fraud and is a reliable way of voting, but politicians still use it as a pedi stool to snatch votes away from people of color. There must be a change in our politics where opinions are put second to facts and politicians must be held accountable for their relaying of false information. Only then will nonpartisan ideals, such as voting rights, be truly upheld and not politicized.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Republican party’s lies and falsified information is a large part of their whole voter suppression efforts. One great example that you bring up is mail-in voting; President Trump and a number of other Republicans have made claims that mail-in voting is, as Ella said, fraudulent when there is no real evidence of fraud.
DeleteI agree with Ella's insightful points that holding the Republican party responsible is needed and Maya's also insightful point that voting has wrongly become extremely partisan. In the past, if a president had even one of the scandals Donald Trump has been in, they would have been shamed out of office, and that shows how for some unknown reason that the Republican party follows and supports Trump the support that holds his administration afloat is undermining American democracy.. Being in the government means giving your input on what can benefit America, not being poorly influenced by someone that results in dividing the nation through extreme political party views. So the Republican party who contributed to this American division and voter suppression has to be held responsible because giving into whatever pressure to attempt preventing minority voters from voting is weakness that is weakening the American democracy and the generations who are growing up thinking this is normal right now.
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