The watchdog group Right Wing Watch recently uncovered video footage of Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) telling voters in his district that property owners should be the only ones allowed to vote. In the same video, he also suggested that early and absentee voting is a “travesty” and that he was glad that Florida Governor Rick Scott had taken measures at the time to reduce early voting. The video was taken during Yoho’s campaign in 2012, when he was still a candidate running for his first term in office. Since being elected, Yoho has made a name for himself by making outlandish and inflammatory statements. He is also a member of the Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives.
Below is video, courtesy of Right Wing Watch.
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His most outlandish statement in the video was the following:
“I’ve had some radical ideas about voting and it’s probably not a good time to tell them, but you used to have to be a property owner to vote.”
However, he also pointed out that he believes far too many people are able to vote in Florida elections via absentee ballots or going to the polls early. After reeling off the numbers of those who utilized early absentee ballots to cast a vote in the previous election, Yoho claimed it was a “travesty.” After praising Scott for his actions, which have since been overturned, Yoho stated that he wished Scott had gone further. Considering that Yoho stated that only property owners should vote, it would seem that he also believes that those given the privilege to vote should only be able to vote on a specific day at a specific location. No exceptions.
Anyway, Yoho is buffoon who has been trying to outclown the other crazies that make up the Tea Party since he hit the scene in 2012. Following in the footsteps of Louie Gohmert, Allen West, Michelle Bachmann, Steve Stockman and Steve King, Yoho has taken every opportunity to say nutty and offensive things in order make his bones and gain entry into that special little club. He’s claimed that Obamacare is racist against white people. He’s jumped on board the birther conspiracy train. He’s advanced the notion that Hezbollah is using our nation’s lax immigration laws to bring over thousands of terrorists.
Therefore, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that a video surfaced showing Yoho saying that voting is just far too convenient for people and that too many people are given that right. Now, will it hurt him this November? Doubtful. While Yoho dealt with a very tough primary in 2012, he won the general election by 32 points.
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
