Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
On Wednesday's Amanpour & Co. show on PBS, host Christiane Amanpour pushed the left's talking points that Republicans have engaged in "voter suppression" to hinder Democrats from voting as she interviewed former Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker.
As she posed the first of three questions on the subject, Amanpour noted that President Donald Trump narrowly beat Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin by only a slim margin, and then raised concerns that the voter reform activity supported by the governor might by prevent Democrats from winning:
States are required by federal law to update their voter lists. Concern, though, that it's being used for voter suppression. As you know, in your state, a federal judge last week ruled that the state must purge 200,000 voter registrations, you know, apparently voters the state believes may have moved homes, who are basically Democrat-leaning or assumed to be Democratic voters. And the local newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, found that these Democratic strongholds account for 14 percent of the registered voters but receive 23 percent of the voter registration letters.
She then brought up Democratic criticism as she added:
So there are huge protests. The chairman of the Democratic party said that there's a lawsuit. He says it's a "product of a right-wing legal and political strategy to prevent eligible voters from voting. It should be a concern to anyone who believes in the core idea of democracy." Is that a problem to you given that it is Democrat-leaning individuals who are being targeted essentially.
As Walker responded, he began by describing her question as "taking the spin from the left," and then argued that, because Wisconsin has same-day voter registration, it is easier for voters to show up and vote than any other state. He also noted that the law requires that those who seem to have moved to another state, who have failed to respond to a post card to prove they are still residents, would be removed, and that many such voters are college students who have moved.
After noting Democratic criticism of the Wisconsin law, she then pivoted to Georgia and repeated misinformation on how easy it is to be kicked off the voter roles:
So it also happens is this week in Georgia, the secretary of state moved more than 300,000 so-called inactive voters from the rolls. That four percent of all voters in the state. It means they didn't vote in the last two general elections, etc. But, as you know, Stacy Abrams who ran for governor there, and she has a Fair Fight Action organization to challenge the removal of at least half of those who've now been struck off, says, you know, "In our view, it is a First Amendment right not to vote, and it is unconstitutional to take away a Georgian's right to vote simply because they have not expressed that right in recent elections." You know, does she have a point? I realize it's not your state, but they're similar issues.
As previously documented by NewsBusters, it takes at least seven years of not voting to be dropped from the voter roles in Georgia, as required by a state law passed by Democrats in the 1990s.
Asking her third question on the subject, Amanpour again misled viewers with misinformation of the left on the issue of the 53,000 voter applications that were put on hold by the Georgia secretary of state's office in 2018:
Let me ask you this because, again, it is mostly Democrats complaining the Republicans trying to tilt the field to make it an unlevel playing field. And, of course, Stacy Abrams who was running for governor in 2018, Secretary of State Brian Kemp was also running against her. He enforced this policy of exact match so, you know, it's basically if there's a little irregularity in the registration, it was canceled, there were 53,000 voter applications on hold. So Abrams, when she lost to Kemp who ran against her, she accused him of using his role to suppress the votes, and this is what she said in her concession speech.
It was not explained that most of the 53,000 applications were incompletely filled out or appeared fraudulent, or that, if the actual voter showed up to vote, they could easily finish the application without being barred from voting.
Below are transcripts of the relevant questions from the Wednesday, December 18, Amanpour and Co, show:
Let's just go back to 2016 when President Trump -- candidate Trump beat candidate Clinton by a very slim 23,000 votes. It was very, very slim, and it means that voter registration is critical. And that brings us to what's going on in your state with the voter rolls and things. States are required by federal law to update their voter lists. Concern, though, that it's being used for voter suppression. As you know, in your state, a federal judge last week ruled that the state must purge 200,000 voter registrations, you know, apparently voters the state believes may have moved homes, who are basically Democrat-leaning or assuming to be Democratic voters. And the local newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, found that these Democratic strongholds account for 14 percent of the registered voters but receive 23 percent of the voter registration letters. So there are huge protests. The chairman of the Democratic party said that there's a lawsuit. He says it's a "product of a right-wing legal and political strategy to prevent eligible voters from voting. It should be a concern to anyone who believes in the core idea of democracy." Is that a problem to you given that it is Democrat-leaning individuals who are being targeted essentially.
(SCOTT WALKER)
As you know, it's being challenged by the Democratic party, and it's being challenged also by the director of the election commission in Milwaukee. "This will lead to people distrusting election administration in Wisconsin. If people feel like a system is rigged, it has a pretty profound impact on whether or not they feel it's even worthwhile to participate in an election." That's his view. So it also happens is this week in Georgia, the secretary of state moved more than 300,000 so-called inactive voters from the rolls. That four percent of all voters in the state. It means they didn't vote in the last two general elections, etc. But, as you know, Stacy Abrams who ran for governor there, and she has a Fair Fight Action organization to challenge the removal of at least half of those who've now been struck off, says, you know, "In our view, it is a First Amendment right not to vote, and it is unconstitutional to take away a Georgian's right to vote simply because they have not expressed that right in recent elections." You know, does she have a point? I realize it's not your state, but they're similar issues.
(SCOTT WALKER)
Let me ask you this because, again, it is mostly Democrats complaining the Republicans trying to tilt the field to make it an unlevel playing field. And, of course, Stacy Abrams who was running for governor in 2018, Secretary of State Brian Kemp was also running against her. He enforced this policy of exact match so, you know, it's basically if there's a little irregularity in the registration, it was canceled, there were 53,000 voter applications on hold. So Abrams, when she lost to Kemp who ran against her, she accused him of using his role to suppress the votes, and this is what she said in her concession speech.
(SCOTT WALKER)