According to a report from Yahoo, Republican officials across the country are taking a hard look at the massive voter turnout in the 2020 election that led to the loss of the White House and making plans to put in place rules that will make it harder for people to vote.
With over 160 million Americans voting in person and by mail in 2020, Republicans are looking at putting roadblocks in the way of voters wanting to vote remotely and are using Donald Trump's unproven accusations of voter fraud as a reason to put limits on it.
According to the Myrna Pérez of the Brennan Center, "There will be some states where it is very clear that the existing power structure is worried about their voters. And part of their job security plan is to make it harder for their voters to participate."
At the forefront of voter suppression are two states that witnessed massive voting controversies in 2020: Georgia and Texas.
"Both states, traditionally seen as Republican strongholds, are increasingly seen as politically competitive because of demographic shifts, with the electorate becoming much more diverse. In Georgia, there has been significant growth among Black, Hispanic and Asian eligible voters over the last two decades, while Texas has seen a surge in its Latino population." the reports states with Pérez adding, "I am not at all surprised to see this happening in Texas and Georgia that I think are on the cusp of a big shift. You have some dinosaurs who are not going to stay in power much longer trying to suppress votes."
According to Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia, the GOP drive to limit voting is a tacit admission that they can't win when more people turn-out.
"Now, they're clearly operating on the premise that: 'fewer votes, we win'," he explained. "Making it harder to do absentee voting, assuming we don't remain all locked in our homes because of the pandemic, that may hurt Republicans more than Democrats. It's kind of a simple, knee jerk reaction to an election they very narrowly lost."
According to Keith Bentele, a professor at University of Arizona, Trump's claims of voter fraud is giving Republicans at the state level cover to write new more restrictive laws.
"Given the extraordinarily intense amplification of the voter fraud myth by President Trump and allies unfolding currently, it would seem odd if state legislators did not follow through with legislation to address these alleged (and in nearly all cases immaterial) issues of election integrity," he wrote.
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