After Republicans responded to the 2020 elections with an avalanche of conspiratorial lies, GOP officials embraced a variety of regressive policy measures, including new voting restrictions, intended to address a problem that didn’t exist in any meaningful way.
But as we’ve discussed, Republicans in several states went considerably further, creating “voter fraud units” and “election integrity units” composed of investigators who would focus exclusively on election-related crimes.
Predictably, these forces have failed to produce evidence of a systemic problem because, as reality keeps reminding us, there is no systemic problem. An Associated Press investigation found late last year that these election units simply didn’t have much to do, because the crimes are uncommon.
That’s not, however, the only problem. The Washington Post published the results this week of a related investigation into those prosecuted by election integrity units and found the units “overwhelmingly targeted minorities and Democrats for prosecution.”
The analysis found that 76 percent of defendants whose race or ethnicity could be identified were Black or Hispanic, while White people constituted 24 percent of those prosecuted by the units. Registered Democrats made up 58 percent of those charged whose party could be identified, while registered Republicans were 23 percent. In the rest of the cases, the defendant was not registered with a particular party.
The Post’s reporting, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, is based on analysis of nearly every prosecution pursued by these state-based voter fraud units.
Because I’ve internalized Republican talking points, I have a hunch some on the right will see these findings and argue, “See? Minority voters and Democrats are getting caught by these election integrity units because it’s minority voters and Democrats who try to get away with cheating.”
Except that’s wrong, too. “The cases that the units pursued often collapsed,” the Post’s report added.
Heather Sawyer, executive director of the watchdog group American Oversight, which has tracked the work of the units, told the Post that the results of the analysis confirm the fears of voting rights advocates.
“At best, these ‘election integrity’ units are for show, designed to placate far-right election denialists in the conservative base,” Sawyer said. “At worst, they are used to justify new voting restrictions and to intimidate people — especially racial minorities — from exercising their right to vote.”
Some readers might see all of this and dismiss it as predictable. Of course Republicans responded to baseless conspiracy theories with unnecessary law enforcement units. Of course they failed to uncover systemic problems. Of course they targeted minority communities and Democratic voters.
But when results of analyses like these are in line with expectations, that doesn’t negate their significance. The GOP officials behind these initiatives are wasting taxpayer money, fueling conspiracy theories that undermine democracy, and targeting voters who don’t deserve to be prosecuted. Whether it’s predictable or not, it’s indefensible.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen
Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics.”
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