Twardlow Loc: Arkansas

David Leonhardt
Op-Ed Columnist

While much of the country was focused on Donald Trump’s shocking victory in the p**********l e******n two years ago, Republicans in North Carolina were attempting a brazen power grab. After their nominee — the sitting governor — lost re-e******n in November 2016, Republicans in the state decided to weaken the governor’s office. The state legislature passed two bills stripping the governor of some powers, and the outgoing governor, Pat McCrory, signed them.
In doing so, McCrory and his allies rejected the peaceful t******r of p***r that is essential to democracy. They instead chose the peaceful t***sfer of some power.

In 2018, it became clear that this problem extended beyond North Carolina. Republicans in Wisconsin and Michigan followed the same strategy. Perhaps the most chilling aspect is that Trump had nothing to do with these power grabs. Most of the leadership of the Republican Party in each state decided that their overriding goal was partisan power.
Along similar lines, Republicans in many states also pushed to make v****g more difficult. They closed polling places, reduced v****g hours and introduced ludicrous bureaucratic hurdles — like requiring Native Americans who have no street address to have one in order to v**e.

The struggle over American democracy is my choice for the year’s second most significant news story. It’s a struggle that goes to the core of American ideals and that will affect politics for years.
Fortunately, it’s also a struggle that has now been joined. This country has the beginnings of the pro-democracy movement that it needs.

In Florida, 65 percent of v**ers — which means large numbers of Democrats, Republicans and independents — approved a b****t initiative restoring the v****g rights of people who had been convicted of a felony. In Missouri, 62 percent of v**ers approved a law to reduce corruption and gerrymandering. Pro-democracy initiatives also passed in a few other states. At the federal level, House Democrats have promised to make e*******l reform the subject of the first bill they offer, after taking control next month.
V****g fairness isn’t simply a Democrat-versus-Republican story. In New Jersey, state Democrats recently pushed for an inequitable new gerrymandering plan — until progressive activists beat back the plan. Gerrymandering remains a problem in other blue states, like Illinois and Maryland. Across parts of the West, meanwhile, Republican officials have supported an expansion of v****g by mail.
But if both parties deserve some blame, they don’t deserve anywhere near equal blame. The efforts to restrict v****g (and the attempts at c***ting) have come overwhelmingly from Republicans, while the efforts to expand v****g access have come mostly from Democrats. The reason is obvious enough. Many Republicans have come to believe they will lose f**r e******ns with high v**er turnout.

In 2019 and beyond, I’ll be rooting for more Republican leaders to decide they can win e******ns the old-fashioned way: By persuading more v**ers that they deserve to win. Until they do, I hope v**ers across the political spectrum will punish Republican politicians who decide they care more about power than democracy. They’re going down a very dangerous road.
For more, Eric Levitz has a piece in New York magazine called, “The GOP’s 2018 autopsy: Democracy is our enemy.” In The Atlantic, Anne Applebaum explains that the struggle for democracy is even more intense in Europe.


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