Trump Strategy: Suppress the Vote

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Early voting in Ohio, November 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
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In what many have seen as troubling rhetoric in advance of the November 8th election, Donald Trump has urged the mostly white backers at his campaign rallies to go to “certain areas” on Election Day.

Go and vote and then go check out areas because a lot of bad things happen. You know what I’m talking about.

Trump’s actions have sparked the Washington Post op-ed piece: ‘Donald Trump’s strategy for minority Americans? Don’t let them vote

The Washington Post editorial board writes:

“Yes, everyone knows what Mr. Trump is “talking about.” Mr. Trump’s odious gambit is a punch to the gut of American democracy that all but ensures charges of Election Day fraud, no matter how flimsy the evidence.

It’s also in keeping with long-standing voter-suppression schemes in state legislatures, where white Republican lawmakers have used the concocted threat of voter fraud as an excuse to enact voter ID laws whose main purpose is to disqualify and discourage minority voters, who disproportionately lack the required documents.”

Trump’s actions, are in line with ramped up efforts in several GOP led states to limit access to the polls. Many of the efforts however, have been reversed in court.
The opinion piece leaves readers with the question which challenges the GOP leadership:

Will the GOP embrace the novel idea of attracting more voters to its side, or will it continue trying to win elections by discouraging people from exercising their right to vote?

Meantime, commenting on Trump’s efforts to incite supporters to engage in voter intimidation at the polls, Fox News analyst and Hillary Clinton support Jehmu Green told AURN News, “Every American should be worried about Donald Trump trying to delegitimize our electoral process and at the same time instructing his supporters to intimidate voters, particularly in African American precincts.”

And, there’s more reaction from black conservative talk host Stacy Washington of ‘Stacy on the Right’ who says there is evidence of voter fraud which has “nothing to do with race.”  Greene said that Trump is trying to highlight the problem.

Source: AURN

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