Georgia isn’t delaying its May 19 primary at this time, but the secretary of state’s office is mailing out absentee ballot applications to every one of the state’s 6.9 million registered voters. That has some Republican lawmakers very unhappy.
State House Speaker David Ralston was absolutely blunt about his objection. “This will be extremely devastating to Republicans and conservatives in Georgia,” he said in an interview. “Every registered voter is going to get one of these. … This will certainly drive up turnout.”
Ralston joins a long history of Republicans who feel threatened by voting. Just this week Donald Trump said of Democratic efforts to expand vote by mail that “They had levels of voting that if you ever agreed to it you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” so Ralston is in … prominent company, if not good company.
It’s incredibly sad—but also telling—that one of our major political parties is afraid of the basis of our democracy. It’s especially sad that a massive threat to public health if people go to the polls and stand in lines (a Republican specialty) and touch the same touchscreens and pens and so on isn’t enough to get Republicans to support vote by mail. They are literally putting their own electoral chances above human lives, and they’re not even being subtle about it.
Sign if you agree: Donald Trump and Republicans don't want everybody to vote—because they would lose