The attack on democracy never stops.
In fact, when those attacking it get spooked, they double down. They look at why they lost ANYWHERE, then change the rules so it doesn’t happen again, where they are.
And that pattern is on display right now, at breakneck speed. In Ohio.
Brace yourself: Because ALL 10 of these steps are being rushed forward RIGHT NOW in the Buckeye State:
1. In Ohio, Democrats managed to win the majority of the state school board (which has a number of elected members), so in a move reminiscent of Southern states after Black voters registered in large numbers after the Voting Rights Act, the GOP introduced a bill this week to strip powers from that new school board and hand them to the Governor.
2. After we all witnessed successful examples of direct democracy in states such as Kentucky, Kansas and Montana, and with Ohio’s GOP knowing full well Ohioans are pro-choice, anti-gerrymander & anti-extremist, they are now pushing to change the Ohio Constitution so that 60% of voters must approve any attempts to amend the Constitution in those or other ways.
That’s right—protected in gerrymandered districts, they get to ram through unpopular laws whenever they like, but they want to make it harder for the people themselves, and the majority, to reverse their extremist handiwork.
3. Knowing that early vote is disproportionately used by Democratic voters, Ohio’s GOP is pushing to prohibit the Secretary of State from sending unsolicited absentee ballot request forms to Ohio voters.
4. Even though the Secretary of State has assured again and again that there is no problem of voter fraud in Ohio, Ohio’s GOP is pushing to eliminate electronic forms of utility bills, bank statements, and government checks as supplemental identification for voting purposes.
5. Because early in-person voting is disproportionately Democratic, Ohio’s GOP is pushing to eliminate the last day of early voting (the Monday), which of course means more crowded weekend voting (when far more Democrats stand in lines that already wrap around buildings and take hours), but also cuts off people from voting who find out late that they, for some reason, can’t vote Tuesday.
6. Because Democratic voters disproportionately vote early, Ohio’s GOP is pushing to shorten the absentee ballot request window by 4 days for mail-in requests, and by 7 days for online requests.
7. For the same reason, they are pushing to shorten the grace period for Boards to accept ballots postmarked on time but delivered by mail after Election Day, from 10 days to 7 days. This includes ballots from overseas and military voters. So, yes, voters who voted on time will be punished for slow mail service they have no control over.
So what about drop boxes as an alternative….?
8. Because Democrats disproportionately use drop boxes, and after already having limited drop box locations to one per county, they are pushing to limit the number of drop boxes at each of those locations to a total of 3, and eliminate curbside voting as an option.
That will lead to longer lines and traffic congestion, especially in large counties.
9. And now they are pushing for strict photo ID, which Ohio has not had before. Again, there has been no evidence whatsoever of in-person voter fraud, but as we’ve seen in other states, strict photo ID means thousands or tens of thousands of eligible voters will simply not vote because they don’t have the required ID they’ve never before needed.
And as always, this will disproportionately be voters who have voted for Democrats. Because that’s always the goal.
10. Finally, nothing’s been proposed yet, but have no doubt that this same lawless crew is busy re-gerrymandering Ohio to make things worse in ‘24 and beyond.
To tear apart the small handful of newly fair Congressional districts that Democratic candidates just won.
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Folks, we are seeing is the saying “absolute power corrupts absolutely” playing out in real time. A meltdown of democracy in the wide open.
These are people who just got away with forcing an election to take place on unconstitutional maps.
They just got away with violating repeated orders of the Ohio Supreme Court. And as they did so, they changed the rules of how that Court is elected in order to forge for themselves a favorable Court, eliminating the final check/balance on their lawlessness and unending attacks on basic pillars of a healthy democracy.
This is what happens anywhere—in other countries, in our own country—when people in power face no accountability from either courts or the people, after having designed a gerrymandered system to accomplish just that.
One other thing, if you live in a gerrymandered state anywhere in the country that isn’t Ohio, steps like these and others are coming your way.
I wish my book title—Laboratories of Autocracy —was just a cute play on words.
It’s not.
It’s how these statehouses operate, always learning from one another. Learning from successes and failures everywhere.
So no….they’re not gonna stop.
And the downward spiral of all this won’t stop until enough Ohioans and Americans stand up to say ENOUGH. (Which includes ALL Democrats in Congress, who still have time to enact a new Voting Rights Act).
I’m still gathering details on all that we can and most do to keep fighting back here.
I’ll send that information as soon I have it.
Bottom line: Never normalize this.
Never stop fighting for democracy.
I’m buying this book for so many folks these days and trying to get them up to speed on the bullshit going on in Ohio
Ohio will be an autocratic Christian Nationalist hellscape over the next two years mirroring the words and actions of the GOP House.