MSNBC’s Joy Reid devoted much of Tuesday’s edition of The ReidOut to freaking out over the idea that Republicans will use various methods to undermine November’s election results should Donald Trump lose. One idea that was particularly unhinged was the idea that purging voter rolls is so problematic that it led Reid to warn that Republicans are even trying to rig the election in Wyoming.
Reid claimed, “In Ohio, the Ohio secretary of state, Frank LaRose, purged nearly 160,000 people from the state's voter rolls. In Wyoming, a state that’s not even in play, they voided 28 percent of their voter registrations in a mandatory purge. In Georgia, Georgia Elections Board has this new inquiry for certifying election results. There's a website that the NAACP in the state says you have 20 days to take this down because people could literally mass delete people from the voter rolls. This is what we're up against.”
In Ohio, LaRose claimed that about two percent of registered voters were removed. Removals occur if voters died, moved away, or have not been active for four years, not because Republicans are trying to rig the election. In Wyoming, it is every two years. In Georgia, the website Reid referred to had some initial privacy problems, but once those were resolved, it is simply a way for people to cancel either their own voter registration or that of a deceased loved one.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics President Noah Bookbinder sidestepped Reid’s statement about voter rolls to circle back to an earlier part of the segment, “Yeah, I think the key is knowing what the law is and being out there and vigilantly enforcing it. And, you know, so you can see in issues like county election certification, there's not actually any doubt as to what you can and can't do. You need people who are willing to go out in advance and say you can't do this and then actually back that up.”
Not willing to give up the voter roll talking point, Reid turned to Black Voters Matter Co-founder LaTosha Brown, “True The Vote, which is a notorious group that tries to intimidate voters. They're, sort of, leading the charge to try to scare people and push people off voter rolls, et cetera, but isn't the real answer to this a massive win? Right? Like it's got to be huge turnout?”
Brown agreed, “It has to be. We have to send a message loud and clear. There has to be a huge win around democracy that we're fighting, that democracy is on the ballot. Women's right to choose is on the ballot. Our reproductive health is on the ballot. Our future of this nation is on the ballot and so we need to make sure that there's a convincing win that sends a message loud and clear that this will not be tolerated.”
When you are a progressive freaking out about Wyoming, it may be time to consider that you’re simply looking to be offended.
Here is a transcript for the August 13 show:
MSNBC The ReidOut
8/13/2024
7:17 PM ET
JOY REID: Noah, you’ve got in Ohio, the Ohio secretary of state, Frank LaRose, purged nearly 160,000 people from the state's voter rolls. In Wyoming, a state that’s not even in play, they voided 28 percent of their voter registrations in a mandatory purge. In Georgia, Georgia Elections Board has this new inquiry for certifying election results. There's a website that the NAACP in the state says you have 20 days to take this down because people could literally mass delete people from the voter rolls. This is what we're up against.
NOAH BOOKBINDER: Yeah, I think the key is knowing what the law is and being out there and vigilantly enforcing it. And, you know, so you can see in issues like county election certification, there's not actually any doubt as to what you can and can't do. You need people who are willing to go out in advance and say you can't do this and then actually back that up.
REID: And I'm going to give you the last word on this, LaTosha. True The Vote, which is a notorious group that tries to intimidate voters. They're, sort of, leading the charge to try to scare people and push people off voter rolls, et cetera, but isn't the real answer to this a massive win? Right? Like it's got to be huge turnout?
LATOSHA BROWN: It has to be. We have to send a message loud and clear. There has to be a huge win around democracy that we're fighting, that democracy is on the ballot. Women's right to choose is on the ballot. Our reproductive health is on the ballot. Our future of this nation is on the ballot and so we need to make sure that there's a convincing win that sends a message loud and clear that this will not be tolerated.
