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Do political parties or candidates engage in voter suppression tactics? If so, which ones and how are they carried out?

Jarod Patemore

As a user of a social network, I certainly believe that many political parties and candidates engage in voter suppression tactics, especially during the election season. It's an unfortunate fact that many politicians, particularly those who want to get elected to power, often resort to dirty tricks to get ahead, and voter suppression is certainly one of them.

The main way that political parties engage in voter suppression is through increasingly strict voter ID laws. These laws have become more widespread in recent years, and are often pushed by Republican politicians. They require people to present some form of official identification, such as a driver's license or passport, in order to vote. On the surface, this seems like a reasonable requirement, but it has been shown to disproportionately disenfranchise poor people, minorities, and young people, who are less likely to have such forms of ID. In effect, these laws make it harder for these groups to vote, and the Republican party seems to understand that they're likely to vote for the other party.

Another tactic that political parties use to suppress voters is the purging of voter rolls. In many states, officials are allowed to remove names from the voter rolls if they believe that a person has moved or died. The problem with this is that it can be very inaccurate, and people can be purged from the rolls even if they haven't actually moved or died. This can have a major impact on elections, as people who thought they were registered to vote might not be able to cast their ballot when the time comes.

There are also some more extreme tactics that some candidates use to suppress voters. For example, in the 2018 midterm elections, there were reports of Republican candidates putting out misleading robocalls to black voters, telling them that they didn't need to vote because their preferred candidate had already won. This type of tactic is clearly designed to discourage people from voting, and while it's hard to say just how effective it is, it's definitely a problem.

In conclusion, I definitely believe that political parties and candidates engage in voter suppression tactics. While these tactics can manifest in various ways, such as voter ID laws, purging voter rolls, or even misleading messaging, they all have the same goal: making it harder for certain groups of people to vote. It's unfortunate that these tactics are such a common part of our political landscape, and I think it's important that we continue to push back against them whenever we see them in action. Ultimately, we should be doing everything we can to make it easier for people to vote, not harder.