Regarding Voter Suppression

The president claims that there has been and will be massive voter fraud in the 2016, 2018 and 2020 elections. If he wins in November, he might tone that rhetoric down some. All the evidence so far of voter fraud amounts to not much. Despite that, the radical right constantly but falsely claims that voter fraud is a major problem. So far, that is false.

On the flip side, what about evidence of voter suppression that results form false claims of trying to  stop massive voter fraud? The Washington Post writes:

“More than 534,000 mail ballots were rejected during primaries across 23 states this year — nearly a quarter in key battlegrounds for the fall — illustrating how missed delivery deadlines, inadvertent mistakes and uneven enforcement of the rules could disenfranchise voters and affect the outcome of the presidential election.

The rates of rejection, which in some states exceeded those of other recent elections, could make a difference in the fall if the White House contest is decided by a close margin, as it was in 2016, when Donald Trump won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by roughly 80,000 votes. 

This year, according to a tally by The Washington Post, election officials in those three states tossed out more than 60,480 ballots just during primaries, which saw significantly lower voter turnout than what is expected in the general election. The rejection figures include ballots that arrived too late to be counted or were invalidated for another reason, including voter error. 

‘If the election is close, it doesn’t matter how well it was run — it will be a mess,’ said Charles Stewart III, a political science professor at MIT who studies election data. ‘The two campaigns will be arguing over nonconforming ballots, which is going to run up against voters’ beliefs in fair play,’ he said.”

Nationwide, about 319,000 mail and absentee ballots were rejected in the 2016 general election. Given postal service sabotage and chaos and various voter restrictions and requirements in many red states, a lot more than 534,000 mail ballots could be rejected next November. Republicans will do their very best to see that the rejections hit likely democratic voters than likely republicans. If there is going to be massive voter fraud in November of 2020, it will come in the form of unjustified GOP voter suppression perpetrated in the name of preventing almost non-existent voter fraud.