Paul Waldman comments in The Plum Line concerning GOP refusal to pass a bill aimed at securing elections throughout the United States – not because they disagree with methodologies, but because they believe, or at least say, it’s partisan:
The legislation to which McConnell refers, the one that passed the House, is pretty straightforward. It requires voter-verifiable paper ballots and voting machines that don’t connect directly to the Internet, so that recounts can be done accurately and there’s less vulnerability to hacking. It gives states money to secure their systems. It instructs the Election Assistance Commission to do a study to determine optimal ballot designs to minimize voter confusion and errors.
You wouldn’t think there’s anything there that would particularly advantage one party over another. But that’s only if you didn’t know how voting really works in this country.
That’s because so much of what plagues our election system works to the advantage of Republicans, in part because their voters tend to be older and wealthier, and in part because of all the effort Republicans have put into erecting obstacles in the path of Democratic-leaning constituencies attempting to vote, not to mention the gerrymandering that makes Republican votes worth more and the electoral college that does the same.
Or it may be even worse. Long time readers will recall there have been hints, from non-fringe observers and experts, that voting machines have been compromised – even during primaries.
If these hints of electoral fraud turn out to be true – another case of projection by President Trump, incidentally – it’d constitute one of the biggest scandals in United States history. It’d also explain the ridiculous behavior of Senator McConnell as well, rendering him not an arbitrary and capricious Democrat opponent, but someone protecting the jobs of himself and his GOP colleagues. As a citizen, I prefer to believe McConnell is a crass, corrupt politician, rather than a flying nutcase.
