Liberty Expose: Republicans Seek To Undermine American Democracy

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Back in October of last year, I asked whether the post-Trump Republican Party would embrace a rebirth of its conservative calling by divesting itself of its authoritarian tendencies and pursuing bold government energy on behalf of the national interest, or whether it would burn itself out by continuing down the same unsustainable path of faux populism, racial antagonism, and deregulation for the benefit of an elite minority. While pessimistic that a rebirth would be feasible in the near future, it nevertheless seemed worthwhile at the time to articulate what it could look like, and to specify the issues that the Party must work through in order to embody the kind of democratic conservatism that the country needs. 

I stand by the idea that American conservatism can play this role—that it can serve as a salutary counterbalance to the progressive spirit, a guardian of our democratic norms, and a balancer of the nation’s power equilibrium. However, having witnessed the Republican Party’s behavior these last few months—from its complicity in Trump’s authoritarian backlash and unwillingness to convict him for a clear violation of his presidential oath, to its recent attempts to limit voter participation—it has become clear that the Party has largely abandoned its commitment to democratic norms and, at least in its current form, consigned itself to a marginal, reactionary role with regard to the real history-making work of the 21st century.  

If the Republican Party’s willingness to acquit Trump for inciting a violent insurrection on the Capitol provides the most shocking instance of its abdication of American democracy, its post-election efforts to restrict voting across the country furnish the most egregious. Though the anti-democratic tendencies of the Republican Party during the last few decades are well documented, its blatant willingness to suppress voter participation invites comparison with the rationale of Jim Crow, and should unsettle anyone who believes in the legitimacy of democratic process and the sanctity of equal suffrage. 

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, state legislators in the current 2021 legislative sessions (as of February 19th) had introduced 253 bills with provisions that restrict voting access. Though less than the number of bills with provisions to expand voting access (704), the number of restrictive bills introduced this year is four times the number introduced by this point last year, which supports the hypothesis that they indicate “a backlash to historic voter turnout in the 2020 general election.” 

These measures take many different forms, but the largest single category of restrictions has to do with mail-in voting, which was employed by a record-high number of voters this past election cycle, most of whom were Democrats. Provisions in this category include stricter requirements for who can vote by mail, increased hurdles for obtaining ballots, tougher signature requirements, and earlier postmark deadlines for ballots to count. In Arizona, for example, a bill has been proposed that would require mail-in ballots to be postmarked the Thursday prior to election day. Another bill in the same state would require signatures to be notarized. 

Stricter voter ID proposals have also proved popular in recent months, numbering 40 bills in 18 states as of February 19th. Ten states that do not currently require photo ID to vote now have proposals to require it, and there are bills in Arizona, Missouri and New Hampshire that would lead to stricter ID requirements for early in-person voting. In one instance in New Hampshire, legislators have even proposed excluding student IDs from the list of eligible forms of verification. 

A third and particularly egregious category of laws involves narrowing opportunities for folks to even get registered in the first place. Some bills limit access to election day registration, while others cut it out entirely. In other cases (Alaska and Georgia) efforts are being made to slash automatic voter registration; whereas in Texas, Republican legislators are attempting to take away registration authority from counties by denying them the power to send automatic absentee ballot request forms and establish their own voting hours. Republican politicians have claimed that such measures are motivated by fraud-related concerns in places like Harris County, but the more likely reason probably has to do with the considerable electoral gains that Harris has reaped for Democrats, as well as its exceptional work during the pandemic to expand voting access through 24-hour early voting locations, drive-throughs, and mail-in ballot applications that it tried to send out in mass (until it was blocked by the Texas Supreme Court). 

Taken together, the passage of these laws could constrict voting access for tens of millions of people, particularly the approximated 85 million voters who opted to vote by mail last year. Though Republicans claim that more restrictive voting laws are necessary to correct for voter fraud in American elections, the fact that these claims remain largely unsubstantiated (and little more than a “Big Lie” the Party has joined Trump in repeating) suggests that the Party views the historic voter turnout of last year as a threat to be mitigated. 

Instead of building off of last year’s noble turnout on behalf of the American people, who stepped up to the plate in the midst of a global pandemic, Republicans have chosen to not only curtail that progress, but to largely oppose the For the People Act of 2021, which stands as a clear litmus test for a party’s actual commitment to expanding voting access for all Americans, no matter what background, age, or constituency. Rather than formulate a compelling vision for the country that can inspire voters new and old, it has opted to stifle the democratic progress of the country, well aware that its vision stands at odds with most Americans’—not to mention the America envisioned by the upcoming generations.  

It is high time for true conservatives that believe in democracy—for those that inherit the noble tradition of the Federalists and Lincoln Republicans—to see the writing on the wall, and begin openly combating the authoritarian burnout that the Republican Party will continue to drag America through in the years ahead.