Donald Trump is one of the least popular presidents in history, but his Justice Department led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions is setting the stage for Republicans to carry out a massive voter purge at the state level ahead of the 2018 and 2020 elections.
Ari Berman of Mother Jones reported, “The Trump administration redoubled its support on Monday for efforts to remove people from voter registration rolls, siding with the state of Ohio in a case that could allow states to cancel registrations for voters who fail to cast a ballot over the course of several elections. The Justice Department released an amicus brief in the case, currently before the Supreme Court, over whether Ohio can continue to remove “infrequent voters†who fail to cast a ballot over a six-year period.”
Laws like the one in Ohio are specifically targeting Democratic voters because Democrats vote less often in off year elections. Republicans don’t have popular politicians. Their candidates and policies are even less popular than their elected leaders, so the GOP has taken to trying to rig elections by changing the shape of the electorate to one that favors their party. If a person doesn’t move or do anything that changes their voting status, they should not be removed from the rolls.
The term infrequent voter is a construct that is not supported by the Constitution. Republicans are trying to cut the people out of representative democracy. If Trump can’t win on his own merits, and the Russians aren’t such willing partners in 2020, Trump’s backup plan is to make it difficult if not impossible for Democrats to vote.
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Trump and the Republicans can’t win a fair contest of ideas, so they are doing everything that they can think of to rig the game.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
