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GOP leadership is now saying they'll block any attempt to expand vote-by-mail in NC for fear of corruption.
I've been in the state senate for six years.
Here's a list of just the political corruption by GOP leadership *I have personally witnessed.*
/thread - obviously/ #ncpol https://twitter.com/saintorange/status/1248617723757621248
I've been in the state senate for six years.
Here's a list of just the political corruption by GOP leadership *I have personally witnessed.*
/thread - obviously/ #ncpol https://twitter.com/saintorange/status/1248617723757621248
- Gerrymandering districts to rig as many elections in their favor as theoretically possible.
And they confess!
Rep. Lewis: “I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats. So I drew this map in a way to help foster what I think is better for the country.”
And they confess!
Rep. Lewis: “I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats. So I drew this map in a way to help foster what I think is better for the country.”
- Using a hurricane as cover to call a surprise special session to grab power from a newly-elected Democratic Governor.
- Purposefully delaying the vote on a veto override in the hope that a few members of the minority party won't show up (still ongoing!).
- Purposefully delaying the vote on a veto override in the hope that a few members of the minority party won't show up (still ongoing!).
- Deliberately misleading legislators about when votes will be held to catch the other party off guard (on 9/11).
- Attempting to gerrymander the judicial and prosecutorial districts to rig those elections in their favor.
- Attempting to gerrymander the judicial and prosecutorial districts to rig those elections in their favor.
- Cancelling all the judicial primaries and then sending mail to Democratic attorneys around the state encouraging them to run for state supreme court, hoping a bunch would run and it would split the vote and re-elect the GOP incumbent (that one was wild - and it backfired).
- Cutting the number of judges on the Court of Appeals from 15 to 12 when they realized the Democratic governor might get to make some appointments. They didn't even try to give a reason! They just cut the seats.
- Putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would have essentially allowed the majority party in the state legislature to fill all the judicial vacancies across the state at their discretion.
- AND those constitutional amendments were worded in such a misleading way that a court found them to be unlawfully deceptive and forced them to be written in a way that was actually relatively honest... at which point voters saw what they were really about and voted them down.
- This one is big:
They undertook a major research effort to determine how likely African Americans were to use early vote and what type of I.D.s they were likely to have.
They undertook a major research effort to determine how likely African Americans were to use early vote and what type of I.D.s they were likely to have.
They sent an email that asked, “Is there any way to get a breakdown of the 2008 voter turnout, by race (white and black) and type of vote (early and Election Day)?”
They even asked UNC how many student ID cards are created and the % of those who are African American.
They even asked UNC how many student ID cards are created and the % of those who are African American.
With that research data in hand, they waited until the day after SCOTUS had struck down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Acts and then passed a law that cut a week of early voting, eliminated out-of-precinct voting, eliminated same-day registration, and required...
voters to show specific types of photo ID - the types they knew African Americans would be less likely to have.
They gave big speeches at the time about how this had nothing to do with race or voter suppression - but that was before their emails became public.
They gave big speeches at the time about how this had nothing to do with race or voter suppression - but that was before their emails became public.
They got absolutely slammed by the court, as they fully deserved.
The court called it “the most restrictive voting law North Carolina has seen since the era of Jim Crow" that targeted “African Americans with almost surgical precision.”
The court called it “the most restrictive voting law North Carolina has seen since the era of Jim Crow" that targeted “African Americans with almost surgical precision.”
The court continues:
“Neither this legislature — nor, as far as we can tell, any other legislature in the country — has ever done so much, so fast, to restrict [voting] access.”
“Neither this legislature — nor, as far as we can tell, any other legislature in the country — has ever done so much, so fast, to restrict [voting] access.”
And now their objection to allowing you to vote-by-mail is... democracy?
False. They want lower turnout!
This leadership is - and always will be - thoroughly defined by its disrespect for you as a voter.
And now they're literally willing to *subject you to infectious disease.*
False. They want lower turnout!
This leadership is - and always will be - thoroughly defined by its disrespect for you as a voter.
And now they're literally willing to *subject you to infectious disease.*
@jimmorrill @AllisonWSOC9 @NickOchsnerWBTV @chrislhayes @maddow @MaddowBlog @mattyglesias @ezraklein
