Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D) blasted efforts from Republicans in various states to crack down on voter fraud on Wednesday, accusing GOP lawmakers of widespread voter suppression.
Responding to a question about a recount in the Florida Senate race between Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D), Durbin called for a fair count of the vote and an end to GOP efforts to allegedly stifle voter turnout.
{mosads}”We also want to put an end to this voter suppression,” Durbin said Wednesday. “For goodness’ sake, why does the Republican Party think its fate is tied to reducing the number of people who show up to vote?”
“A democracy, if it works, has more and more participation,” he continued. “[It] makes it easier for voters to come forward. Yet the Republicans have found ways time and again to impose ID cards, limit the early vote, try to make it as hard as possible for people to vote.”
“Clearly they believe that this is the way to overcome the demographics, which are not headed their way,” Durbin added.
Democrats including former Vice President Joe Biden hammered the GOP ahead of Tuesday’s midterms for alleged voter suppression tactics, particularly in Georgia, where thousands of voters where threatened with ineligibility over registration issues.
In Kansas, a top member of President Trump’s now-shuttered voter fraud panel lost his bid for governor after the panel was criticized as an attempt by the Trump administration to crack down on legal voters.