The real reason Donald Trump is suddenly so obsessed with voter ID
There is statistically no voter fraud. Please, Donald Trump, stop rallying for voter ID. This is just a dogwhistle to your followers. Widespread election-altering voter fraud is not an issue. Last night in the purple-ish state of Florida, shock of all shocks, Trump lied to his screaming, misinformed base.
Trump advocated for the state requirement of voter ID, yet again. As a lead in, he presented an absolutely silly statement equating grocery shopping with voting. The false claim was that an ID card is needed to purchase groceries in the United States, so why don’t we require one for something as important as voting? Not only is it unlikely that Trump has ever set foot in a grocery store, it is far more unlikely that the crowd believed that nonsense… Or is it? Sadly, the crowd cheered at this statement.
Facts be darned, could this man really shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any support? That may be the case with his hardened base, but there is also a shift in overall support for Trump. The historically implied racism of voter identification is clear. This is a long-standing call from the right to control voting in districts where obtaining a proper ID can be challenging, leaving many to give up, and thus not vote. A clear method of voter suppression, the requirement of voter ID, along with gerrymandered districts, work together to discourage voting in Democratic districts, and to dilute the importance of those who do vote.
In spite of Donald Trump’s failed commission on investigating the elections, he continues. The 2017 Presidential Advisory commission was created by Trump as he repeatedly claimed that Hillary Clinton only won the popular vote due to non-citizens voting for her. He claimed that the Democrats bused non-citizens in to vote. Once again, no evidence of dead people or undocumented people voting was found, but it is fairly likely that these types of pleas from Trump will increase in frequency as we get closer to the November elections.
Virginia is a university & law school graduate, mom, entrepreneur and angry Democrat, hoping for change.