Interview · moment 5 of 10
Vote Suppression Tactics: Cross-Check, Felon Disenfranchisement, and Traffic Stops
from We're Toast with Russ Baker · #118
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
7 minGuest
Russ details specific real-world vote suppression methods (interstate crosscheck lists, felon voting bans, pretextual traffic stops near polling places) and WhoWhatWhy's on-the-ground reporting teams in Georgia, Florida, and Texas, contrasting this with the lack of evidence for voter fraud like the old ACORN claims.
- 16:21How voting machine hacking would actually work — Russia may have probed systems but no proof of breaching actual voting machines.
- 17:00Electronic voting companies are almost entirely owned by well-known Republican and conservative backers, yet nobody discusses this.
- 18:17Closing polling stations creates long lines that discourage people from voting.
- 19:17A nonprofit organization decided to flood the zone with journalists sent to key states like Georgia, Florida, and Texas to investigate vote suppression.
- 20:08Interstate Cross-Check compares similar names across states to block people from voting, claiming Tim Dylan in Idaho can't also vote in New York.
- 20:28Felons in Florida are barred from voting using lists of people who served jail time, blocking anyone with a matching common name.
- 21:42Police in Florida 2000 pulled over drivers for minor infractions like a broken tail light, keeping them stopped during the time they'd set aside to vote.
- 22:10Officers executing this weren't told to stop Black voters; they were ordered to maintain law and order and be highly visible on election day.
- 22:43Studies show voter impersonation fraud is almost nonexistent nationwide, despite repeated claims about ACORN and people voting multiple times.
- 22:59Organized vote suppression is easier and more effective than recruiting individuals to commit fraud — there's almost no evidence such fraud occurs at scale.