New York Times’ Charles Blow Says Voter ID Laws Could Lead To a “Stolen Election”

New York Times opinion columnist Charles Blow used his appearance on Martin Bashir’s program on Tuesday to take a shot at Republican-led efforts to enact voter identification laws, calling them a “poll tax.” He said that it will help the GOP steal the election in the fall.

Bashir asked Blow if what President Obama meant by the Republicans' "discipline" was in fact "voter suppression" and spending "unlimited money" to try to win the election. Blow responded that it was discipline in a way, but it really more of a broad strategy on their part:

If the person can’t get to the ballot, can’t cast a vote, it doesn’t matter. And that is what is happening across the country. State after state where Republicans are in control of state legislatures, they’re passing laws that basically restrict people’s access to a ballot.

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Neither Bashir nor Blow explained how requiring that voters obtain a government issued photo ID, which is required for many everyday transactions, is voter suppression or that it somehow restricts access to the ballot, because they both knew that it doesn’t. One of the arguments against the government issued photo ID requirement has been the cost of obtaining it. But many states, like Mississippi, offer a free ID to anyone who says they can’t afford one. Both Bashir and Blow stated that there really hasn’t been any vote fraud to speak of in America, with Blow calling attempts to implement voter ID laws a “poll tax,” which has become one of the liberals favorite phrases in their fight against these new laws. If there isn’t any real vote fraud taking place in America, then what would Blow call the conviction of Lessadolla Sowers, a member of the NAACP’s Executive Committee in Tunica County, Miss., on 10 counts of voter fraud. Just an honest mistake? The jury found that she had cast absentee ballots for 10 other people. Each count carried a five-year sentence, but the judge decided to have them run concurrently, meaning she is serving a total of five years in prison. That took place before voters in Mississippi passed a voter ID law. Blow told Bashir that these laws could move the needle enough to give the Republicans an edge in the swing states and that people need to realize “that this election is very close to being stolen before the votes are actually cast.” So now we’ve gone from voter suppression and disenfranchisement to Republicans stealing the election. Desperate times calls for desperate measures by the liberals.