Letter: Voter suppression is GOP strategy

Tuesday December 4, 2018

Democrats have good reason for suspicions.

Editor:
In “Founders set up lasting structure" (Reading Eagle, Nov. 28), letter writer Keith Worley stated that starting in 2016, Democrats said there has to be some malfeasance if they don't win. When he said there has been a pattern of such complaints, I was incredulous.


Yes, there is a pattern, but it is voter suppression by Republicans. Florida set the ball rolling in 2000.

Here are four tactics Republicans use:
1. Purging voter rolls. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris did this in 2000 by removing thousands from the rolls. In 2018, Brian Kemp also removed thousands from the rolls in Georgia for dubious reasons.

2. Making it harder to vote. This includes moving or eliminating voting places and reducing time for early voting. In recent years Georgia has closed 214 polling places.

3. Making unreasonable voter ID requirements. The most egregious recent example of this was in North Dakota. Its new voter ID requirement included having a valid address. State officials did this knowing full well that Native Americans living in rural communities have no addresses. A voter ID law here in Pennsylvania was struck down. The cry of Republicans of voter fraud is false. Judges have noted that voter ID is a destructive solution for a nonexistent problem.

4. Gerrymandering. Pennsylvanians know this very well. The courts struck down our congressional map, as it unquestionably favored Republicans. This is common in Republican-controlled states.


Yes, there is a pattern of voter suppression, and Republicans have used it for years.
Judith M. Matuszak
Reading

Voter suppression is GOP strategy