North Carolina GOP blasted for 'cheating voters out of their vote' with suppression bills

Republicans in North Carolina were blasted for attempting to cheat in elections in a hard-hitting new editorial by the Winston-Salem Journal.

"A little context is in order. Over the years, Republican legislators in North Carolina have invested a considerable amount of time, money and energy in suppressing votes to retain power," the newspaper noted. "And they've accompanied these efforts with constant fairy tales of unsubstantiated 'voter fraud' intended to weaken the public's confidence in election results. That strategy, applied nationwide, contributed largely to the Jan. 6 insurrection."

"And they've not quit yet. Mimicking the nationwide effort to pass new voter-suppression laws — at least 389 bills with restrictive voting provisions have been introduced in 48 states this year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice — N.C. Senate Republicans passed a trio of election measures Wednesday, sending them to the N.C. House, that on the surface may seem benign, but are intended, once more, to suppress votes," the newspaper explained. "Again, these bills may seem harmless, even justifiable, but their intent is clear: to reduce the number of legitimate votes that are accepted and counted."

The newspaper explained how Republicans fear that their party does worse as turnout increases.

"It has been Republican orthodoxy for some time now that when more people vote, more Democrats win. It's an idea that once was only spoken quietly, but more recently has come closer to the surface. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the idea of making Election Day a national holiday — an idea supported by 65% of the public — a Democratic Party 'power grab.' Last November, Sen. Lindsey Graham said, 'If we don't do something about voting by mail, we're gonna lose the ability to elect a Republican in this country.' And former President Trump said last year that if early and absentee voting options were expanded, as Democrats wanted, 'you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.' But that doesn't justify cheating voters out of their vote," the newspaper explained.

The newspaper said they weren't asking much of Republicans.

"We're only asking them to win elections honestly — by appealing to a majority of voters. Or to at least stop trying to suppress Black votes," the Winston-Salem Journal wrote.