Tea Party activist admits voter ID laws intended to elect ‘more conservative candidates’

A former Republican senator turned conservative activist admits voter identification laws are intended to benefit GOP candidates.

Jim DeMint, the former Tea Party senator from South Carolina and current president of the Heritage Foundation, is the latest conservative to admit those restrictive voting laws help get Republicans elected, reported Right Wing Watch.

DeMint made the admission during an appearance of Jamie Allman's talk radio program, where he complained that Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe would tip the election to Democrats by allowing some convicted felons to vote.

"It’s awfully suspicious coming into a big election in a state where it’s actually pretty close,” DeMint said. “I mean, states can decide who votes, but the governor themselves, without legislative action -- that seems over the top to me. I haven’t seen an complete analysis here, but the left is trying to draw votes from illegals, from voter fraud, a lot of different things, so this kind of fits right in to trying to find another group that they can basically count on to vote their way.”

The conservative activist said Republicans seek voter ID laws to help maintain their grip on power.

"It’s really a bigger issue, and that’s why the left fights voter ID or any kind of picture ID to know that it is actually a registered voter who’s voting," DeMint said. "So it’s something we’re working on all over the country, because in the states where they do have voter ID laws you’ve seen, actually, elections begin to change towards more conservative candidates.”

DeMint joined Wisconsin state Rep. Glenn Grothmann and other conservatives who freely admit those laws are intended to suppress Democratic voter turnout to benefit Republican candidates.

"I think Hillary Clinton is about the weakest candidate the Democrats have ever put up,” Grothman said, weighing Donald Trump or Ted Cruz's chances at winning the presidential election. "Now we have photo ID — and I think photo ID is gonna make a little bit of a difference, as well.”