GOP spending $20 million on lawyers to try and make it more difficult for Americans to vote during pandemic: report

On Thursday, Politico reported that Republicans are pouring millions of dollars into thwarting lawsuits trying to expand voting rights and ensure safe access to the ballot amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"The Republican National Committee and Trump reelection campaign are doubling their legal budget to $20 million as litigation spreads to an array of battleground states," reported Alex Isenstadt. "With the virus likely to complicate in-person balloting in November, Democrats have been pushing to substantially ease remote voting restrictions — something the Trump campaign and RNC are aggressively fighting in the courts."

"Trump, who has long been fixated on voter fraud, has taken a personal interest in the project," continued the report. "He is expected to discuss the legal maneuvering during a meeting with his political team Thursday."

Already, litigation battles have played out in Wisconsin, where Republicans blocked an expansion of absentee ballots; Oklahoma, where the state Supreme Court eliminated a requirement that mail-in ballots be notarized; and Texas, where a state judge has contradicted Attorney General Ken Paxton's refusal to allow people to cite risk of COVID-19 as a "disability" for the purposes of an absentee ballot excuse.