‘Throw them out of office’: Washington Post blisters Texas Republicans

The Washington Post editorial board had harsh words for Republicans seeking to suppress the vote in an editorial posted on Monday evening.

"Texas is already one of the toughest states in which to cast a ballot, and Texas Republicans want to make it even harder. As in many other GOP-dominated states this year, the pretext is restoring faith in the election system, following then-President Donald Trump's 2020 torrent of lies about fraud. The real goal is to suppress voting in Houston and other areas trending blue. The consequence ought to be voter backlash against a party that displays such contempt for democracy," the newspaper urged.

"Texas GOP lawmakers introduced on Friday a wave of anti-voting measures," the newspaper explained. "Texas Republicans are almost surgical in their cynicism. Many of their proposals are in direct reaction to the methods that Harris County, home of Houston, used to ease voting in 2020. This despite — or, perhaps, because of — the fact that Texas ran a smooth, high-turnout election last year. After 22,000 hours of work, the Texas secretary of state's office demonstrated only 16 instances of minor fraud — such as voters providing inaccurate addresses on their registration forms — in last year's elections, according to the Houston Chronicle. If there was a threat to election integrity, it was that the state's gratuitously strict voter-ID law and mail-in ballot policies deterred eligible people from voting. But that, after all, is the point."

The editorial urged voters to throw the bums out.

"The primary 'quality' many Republican officials — not all, but a disturbingly large number — appear interested in cultivating is a preference for Republican candidates. This should only steel voter determination to navigate the obstacles and throw them out of office," the newspaper urged.