Voter fraud a figment of GOP imagination

Republicans of the post-Civil War era wanted all 21-year-old males to vote. They pushed hard for the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to be enforced during Reconstruction.

Opponents at that time, mainly Southern Democrats — Dixiecrats — did not cry “voter fraud.” They openly admitted to not wanting black people to have any civil rights, including voting rights.

Today, Republicans claim there will be voter fraud if we allow widespread mail-in voting. One Illinois Republican House leader stated that mail-in voting fraud was as likely as the sun rising. All 19 Illinois Republican senators voted no on this issue.

Where is the proof of such fraud? The most recent Illinois primary had more mailin votes than ever before. I heard nothing of fraud. And how about western states that have used this method of voting for years?

Does the definition of voter fraud include kicking people off voter rolls if they did not vote in the last election? Is it asking people if they used a middle initial on a voter card they signed 20 years ago? Is it a butterflydesigned ballot, with its misaligned rows?

What happened to the Party of Lincoln? The answer came from the party’s leader when he said what’s really the problem — expanding the vote is bad for Republicans.

Jan Goldberg, Riverside

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