In the wee hours of the morning, Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates Elections Subcommittee voted to advance a bill to make it harder to vote by absentee ballot...while killing commonsense measures to mitigate barriers to the polls including efforts to implement early voting and expand absentee voting, expand the list of acceptable forms of ID, and make it easier for people with disabilities to cast their votes.
Virginia Republicans' rationale: voter integrity (wink wink)! The widespread voter fraud myth has been widely debunked - Even Speaker Howell dispelled the notion after Donald Trump's rancorous Tweet storm about "serious voter fraud" in the Commonwealth after the election.
Virginia Republicans' real rationale: they want fewer people to vote. Republicans want fewer people to participate in our democracy - especially people of color, older Virginians, single moms, working folks, and people with disabilities. It's that simple.
Virginia Republicans' shameful crusade against voting rights would be much worse with a Republican in the Governor's mansion. Governor McAuliffe believes that more people should participate in our democracy. So does President Obama. With Trump as president, a GOP Congress, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the helm, voter suppression will be a top priority. This is why it's more important than ever to have champion for voting rights in the Governor's mansion, and more democrats in the House of Delegates in 2017.