If Donald Trump would like to investigate what he considers "voter fraud," perhaps he should start with his daughter, who is registered in New York and Pennsylvania; or his son-in-law who is registered in New York and New Jersey; or his press secretary who is registered in Virginia and Rhode Island; or his nominee to be Secretary of the Treasury who is registered in New York and California; or his senior advisor who is registered in New York and Florida; or the person he claimed was an “expert” on voter fraud who is registered in Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas.
The truth is, of course, that none of this is "voter fraud." People are not voting more than once and they are citizens entitled to vote. But stopping real voter fraud, which rarely occurs in the United States, is not Mr. Trump’s goal. Voter suppression is. His goal is to confuse the American people, lie about the issue and make it harder for poor people, people of color, young people and senior citizens to vote. Sadly this has been a long term goal of the Republican Party and in states like North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Michigan it undoubtedly had an effect in 2016.
As Ari Berman, who has done invaluable reporting on voting rights at The Nation noted, “on Election Day, there were 868 fewer polling places in states with a long history of voting discrimination, like Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina. These changes impacted hundreds of thousands of voters, yet received almost no coverage.”
Additionally we cannot talk about this issue without discussing the fact that 1 out of 13 African-Americans (and more than 1 in 5 African-Americans in Florida) are disenfranchised due to the criminal justice system according to the Sentencing Project. Despite having served their time in prison, they continue to lose their right to vote in elections.
We don’t need an investigation into "voter fraud." We need an investigation into voter suppression. ~ Bernie Sanders
