By Ellen Ballas, Iowa City
Voter suppression was obvious in Iowa City during early voting for the recent local election. Poll workers told me they weren’t permitted to use the printer that produces a label with information which allows us to vote. Instead, voters were asked to hand write answers on a preprinted form attached to a clipboard.
Gov. Kim Reynolds suppressed the vote by use of a ballpoint pen pushing back the voting process by decades.
Aiming for a chokehold on power, it’s an underhanded maneuver by Republicans designed to make unwanted voters impatient and frustrated while standing in line to vote especially if the line is long. Older and handicapped voters and those with limited time may opt to not vote. Republicans planned this when they suppressed voting rights.
Republican congressional representatives, Miller-Meeks and Hinson are no less to blame. Both voted in favor of voter suppression by voting against “For the People Act.” Miller-Meeks deceptively called voter suppression in the U.S., “modernized election laws” — a decoy used by authoritarian regimes like Venezuela.
We may again experience anti-democratic shenanigans if the “For the People Act” doesn’t pass the full Congress.
My advice is to allow extra time to vote, vote early and vote them out: Reynolds, Miller-Meeks, Hinson.
