This isn't just voter suppression. It's a war on local control.

[Nevilledog]

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Paul Waldman
@paulwaldman1
Don't be surprised that GOP voter suppression takes aim at local officials. Preempting local laws they don't like is an old Republican move.

My latest:

Opinion | This isn’t just voter suppression. It’s a war on local control.
When Democrat-run cities try to run things their way, Republican-run legislatures move to stop them.
washingtonpost.com
10:34 AM · Apr 9, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/09/this-isnt-just-voter-suppression-its-war-local-control/

Efforts by Republicans to make voting more difficult — especially for people who might vote for Democrats — have garnered widespread condemnation, with many people analogizing those proposals to Jim Crow laws. But there’s a key aspect of that war on voting that has gotten less notice than some of the more obviously appalling provisions of these bills.

In state after state, Republicans aren’t just going after voters. They’re going after local officials, to make sure it’s the GOP-dominated state legislatures that are in control.

You might find this surprising. Aren’t Republicans the ones who offer eloquent tributes to “local control,” insisting that as much power as possible should reside not with faraway bureaucrats in Washington or even the state capital but with those closest to the people? Isn’t that suspicion of distant power and faith in local communities foundational to modern conservatism?

Well, no. It’s what they say. But in practice, they don’t believe in that principle at all. In fact, the way they want to snatch authority away from local election officials fits in with a long tradition of what’s known as “preemption” laws, in which local governments are forbidden from making their own rules in ways Republicans don’t like.

The most potentially dangerous of these new measures is the one in Georgia’s new voter suppression law. You probably know about the more colorful provisions that seem targeted at Black voters, but less attention has been paid to how the Georgia law directly targets local election officials, forbidding them from using mobile voting locations (as heavily Democratic Fulton County, where Atlanta is located, did in 2020) or accepting outside grants to run elections.

*snip*

[SheltieLover]

1. Absolutely!

[murielm99]

2. It has been that way for decades.

That is why we have to support our county central committees and work hard to elected Democrats at the local level.

Some places do not even have Democratic candidates filing. That needs to change.

[Bettie]

3. The biggest thing that should be written about

is how they can just decide "I do not like the outcome of this election, so I'm deciding that the guy with less votes wins anyway!".

I think this is Kemp's way to "win" the governor's office again.

[peggysue2]

4. x 1000!

That feature has been over-shadowed by the food and drink objection the media quickly zeroed in on. The far more odious element is exactly what you've stated. Had these measures been in place in 2020, Trump could have had his voting numbers adjusted, something he was requesting from the SOS and other election officials.

Despite howls to the contrary, this bill is designed to keep Republicans in power at any cost which means disenfranchising tens of thousands of Georgia's voters. They cannot win on their own merits. Cheating is the next best thing.

The GOP is an antidemocratic organization. They must be defeated, no quarter.

[Bettie]

5. And my guess is that

with this new rule, there will never, ever be another Democrat elected anywhere in GA. They will just change any results they don't like, from dogcatcher up to President.

Remember, local election boards are also allowed to be replaced by all Republicans whenever the legislature likes.

[TheRealNorth]

6. The Bohemians had a solution for when imperial officials were imposed on them....