Voter suppression efforts

Republicans' efforts will surely spike on Election Day, with a strong potential for electoral disruptions and civil disturbances, if not outright violence. "There's going to be lots of watchers, lots of cameras and lots of attorneys all over the country," predicted the head of the GOP's county organization in suburban Philadelphia. "It's going to be chaotic."

This RNC effort is remarkable in many ways, starting with the simple fact that it's possible in the first place.

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For the past 40 years, the party organization has been bound by a "consent decree" secured in federal court in 1982. As a result, the GOP was barred from engaging in these kinds of "election security" campaigns, which seem to be little more than efforts at voter intimidation and election interference.

The decree had its origins in the 1981 gubernatorial race in New Jersey. Widely understood as the first real referendum on the Reagan administration, the contest drew intense attention from both parties.

To support the campaign of Republican nominee Tom Kean Sr., the RNC dispatched political operative John A. Kelly to the state.

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On Election Day, off-duty police officers and sheriff's deputies hired by Kelly's group were equipped with revolvers, two-way radios and official-looking armbands, and they were sent to predominantly Black and Hispanic polling places. "WARNING," their posters announced in red letters, "THIS AREA IS BEING PATROLLED BY THE NATIONAL BALLOT SECURITY TASK FORCE. IT IS A CRIME TO FALSIFY A BALLOT OR TO VIOLATE ELECTION LAWS." A Democratic City Council member from Newark complained that guards were operating "like the Gestapo" there, popping into polling places in small groups, looking through registration books and challenging voters.

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After a recount of the ballots from those who had been allowed to vote, Kean squeaked out an incredibly slim margin of victory of 1,797 votes out of 2.3 million cast. Meanwhile, according to Democratic officials, task force members had challenged more than 45,000 voters.

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Democrats responded by suing the Republicans in federal court. The lawsuit sought $10 million in damages "for the deprivation of the right to vote" and an injunction preventing Republicans from trying the same thing in other elections. It also demanded that Republicans produce internal correspondence and documents about the task force to demonstrate its illegal intent.

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Rather than risk embarrassment during a trial or an adverse ruling after it, the RNC agreed to settle the case with a consent decree. The consent decree, an agreement between the two parties, required the national and state GOP to seek court approval of any future "ballot security" programs, subject to being found in contempt if they ever engaged in similar practices.

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Over the ensuing decades, the consent decree was steadily expanded and extended, as Democrats provided enough evidence of voter intimidation and electoral interference to convince the court that it was still needed. Over the last decade, the RNC remained on its best behavior, studiously avoiding the appearance of any connection with "ballot security" campaigns.

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A federal judge finally allowed the consent decree to expire in late 2017, believing that the issue had been put to rest. The 2020 election will therefore be the first presidential race in 40 years without the consent decree in place.

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When Mike Pence announced in the 2016 race that "the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee are working very, very closely with state governments and secretaries of states all over the country to ensure ballot integrity," the RNC declared that Pence didn't know what he was talking about. Its lawyers dismissed Pence's "incorrect assumptions" in court filings, and Pence himself had to swear he was wrong.

  MSNBC

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.