Election Fraud

I am 69 years old.  I’m old enough to remember literacy tests, poll taxes, and worst of all, violence to prevent people from voting.  I can remember the murders of Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman in Mississippi.  Nevertheless, I have never experienced a nationwide attempt to deny ballot access as I have seen this year.

Don’t the Republicans who are leading the voter suppression drives understand the concept of legitimacy?  If people feel that an election has been stolen, the results of that election lack “legitimacy.”  If an election is perceived as fair, the losers accept the outcome.  If the winners are seen as manipulating or cheating the vote, the election lacks legitimacy.  There is no reason to obey the results. 

The Republicans are getting into dangerous territory here.  They are toying with the very legitimacy of democratic (small d) government.  This is new to the United States, and I fear the implications.