by Dan SullivanThere’s more to the Virginia Republican loyalty oath than the thinly disguised effort to suppress the vote. The GOP intends the process to provide a taxpayer funded voter contact list; the process places a barrier between voters and their ballots; it potentially confounds any recount process.
First, the suppression not only affects the Republican primary
but also the Democratic primary. I have talked to registrars who have flatly
stated that they will not have separate lines for the two sets of voters. Thus,
Democrats will be delayed access to their ballots while enduring an increased
wait caused while Republicans complete their oaths. That delay will potentially
deny voters with limited time their privilege to vote. So Democrats have
standing in this issue too. But for Republicans: the oath represents an
artificial gate between them and their ballots that does not exist for Democrats;
two classes of voters. Equal protection has never been a Republican forte.
On the loyalty oath form there are places for the voters’ e-mail addresses and phone numbers. While that information is neither required to
vote nor for the oath, the form is designed to provide the GOP valuable voter contact
information. The GOP plan is to collect those forms. Besides the impropriety of
providing any party taxpayer funded voter contact information collection, those
forms are as much part of the voting process as the ballots. The GOP isn’t going
to receive consistent cooperation from Registrars. The Democratic Party of
Virginia has been silent on this.
Should there be a recount challenge (oh the joy that would bring us all), those forms, essential to the voting process according to the GOP, should be required to reconcile
the vote. How can a valid recount process not require a match between the oaths
and the ballots? Where is the state's guidance on maintenance of and access to these forms? Where is the guidance for determining a valid oath
during recount?
This is not only Mr. Trump’s problem, it is all our problem.
