Yes, we suppress the vote to attain political objectives. Scott Tranter, a Republican campaign consultant, apparently hasn't availed himself of the kind of media training that warns candidates and other public figures to keep their lips zipped about some things. On Monday, at a panel hosted by the Pew Center on the States, he was discussing ID laws and the long lines that afflicted many voters in Florida and other states in the November election:
"A lot of us are campaign officials'or campaign professionals'and we want to do everything we can to help our side. Sometimes we think that's voter ID, sometimes we think that's longer lines'whatever it may be," Tranter said with a laugh.
Michael McDonald, who heads up the George Mason University Election Project, was in the room. In an interview, he described the remarks:
I couldn't believe that they were said and similar sort of looks around the table that I was at and the guy next to me says, "Well, at least he's honest." And so then I tweeted it out. [...]Quite a comment."
Tranter owns Vlytics, which, in the primaries, received $3,000 from Mitt Romney's campaign for "data consulting." He has also consulted for Sen. John McCain. While he isn't a big fish in the GOP pond, his off-the-cuff comments reinforce those of former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and former Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer who recently told the
Palm Beach Post that the Republicans in the Sunshine States curtailed early voting hours with the specific intention of decreasing Democratic voter turnout. One effect of the cutback in hours: much longer lines on election day.
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