 So after Georgia flipped from red to blue in 2020 and after they elected two Democratic senators the state Republican Party in Georgia has decided that they don't want that to ever happen again So what they're going to do is rig the rules in their favor to make sure that they restrict voting rights and Democrats can't actually be electorally successful Legitimately because if you can't win by convincing people that you have better ideas and policies Then I mean you cheat and if you can't cheat if that doesn't work Then you just you change the rule so that way only you win That's exactly what they're doing in Georgia So as Jake Johnson of common dreams reports the Republican Party of Georgia advanced its sweeping assault on voting rights Monday By pushing through the state Senate legislation that would roll back no excuse absentee voting and ramp up voter ID Requirements a move that drew outrage from activists who dubbed the measure one of the worst voter suppression bills in the country as the Atlanta Journal Constitution explained SB 241 would reduce the availability of absentee voting Restricting it to those who are at least 65 years old have a physical disability or out of town The bill which now heads to the GOP led state House of Representatives would also require Georgians who wish to vote absentee to Provide a driver's license number state ID number or other identification the measure passed by a vote of 29 to 20 With every Democratic senator voting no the Georgia Senate's passage of SB 241 came a week after the state's Republican controlled house Approved legislation that would cut the number of available ballot drop boxes slash weekend early voting days and Intensive by voter ID requirements for mail-in ballots draconian restrictions that come in the wake of two major Democratic U.S. Senate victories in January and president Joe Biden's narrow win in the state in November Collectively these bills represent the most sustained effort to roll back access to the ballot in Georgia since the Jim Crow era Ari Berman of Mother Jones reported Monday the same is true nationally where Republicans have introduced 253 bills in 43 states in the first two months of this year to make it harder to vote so they are absolutely Shameless, I mean that last sentence says it all They've introduced 253 bills in 43 states Already all to make it harder to vote. Is it not? Crystal clear what they're trying to accomplish here if you can't win as a minority party because your ideas are unpopular You cheat You cut access to voting impose restrictions on voting reduce the number of polling locations make it more difficult to vote and That disproportionately helps your party because when vote voter turnout is higher Guess who doesn't benefit from that the Republican Party whenever voter turnout is higher whenever more and more people Register to vote for the first time that disproportionately benefits the Democratic Party So the Republican Party in states across the country They know that the way to combat this surge in new voter registrations and higher turnout during presidential elections Is to cheat literally rig the rules in your favor literally become authoritarian Rollback democracy all so you can maintain power It is absolutely grotesque and when you try to pressure them or press them on this they'll say well, this isn't like to Stop people from voting. We just want to protect the vote. We want to make sure that you know, uh, there is integrity In our voting, you know, that way voters feel secure that their that their voices are going to matter Okay Well, if that were the case, wouldn't you be imposing, uh, mandates to just like have automatic recounts Or automatic audits Of the election, isn't it really interesting like the way you try to ensure the integrity of the vote by like making it harder to vote in the first place Like they're so transparent. Who doesn't see through them? This is shameless. It's brazen The GOP is a minority party and the only way they win is to cut access to voting These policies specifically harm people of color They make it so that way people of color and communities of color are less likely to vote because it's harder for them to vote and as a result One of the most loyal demographics to the democratic party Can't vote as much as maybe they want to vote and who benefits from them Republicans like I shouldn't have to explain this. It's pretty obvious. The GOP has been doing this now Forever like this has been their go to and it's not like the democratic party doesn't have like Authoritarian tendencies themselves because they certainly use their institutional power to crush grassroots movements, particularly during primaries But what the GOP does is a step further than the democratic party in that they actually Don't want people to vote. They actually Try to purge as many people from the roles as possible when they see that new people are signing up That's how brian kemp was elected by the way This is an individual who became governor because he was secretary of state He oversaw his own election as secretary of state of georgia Which obviously is a conflict of interest if you care about integrity of voting um And when he saw that stacey abram's his opponent was registering Lots and lots of new voters in that state he saw that as a threat And he decided to purge more than a hundred thousand voters from the roles mostly black people They know what they're doing And if you don't call this out if you don't acknowledge what they're doing Then you're part of the problem as well So I mean this is something that we're going to continue to see it's a trend That is going to continue, you know, it's it's really frustrating to see like Liberal um analysts suggest that well, you know what? It's only a matter of time. Texas is going to turn blue You know the younger generations. They don't like the republican party. So eventually this party will become irrelevant That's a really lazy Explanation or prediction. I should say because the republican party isn't just going to roll over and die due to demographic changes because more young people support uh Democrats or don't support republicans rather Like they're going to change it so that way they still win They're going to gerrymatter states into oblivion They're going to rig the rules in their favor reduce voting rights all to make sure they remain in power Like they're not going to die out that easily whoever thinks that is delusional So things like this have got to be talked about because this is an issue You have a party that has taken a stand unequivocally against democracy And if you want democracy to survive if you don't want us to devolve further into authoritarianism Then we have to call this out and fight against it. Otherwise this party who is hell bent on destroying democracy Is going to you know keep Doing what benefits them like if this hurts democracy? They don't care their goal is not to preserve and protect democracy Their goal is to maintain power and they will do that By all means necessary