{"id":12965,"date":"2023-08-04T18:27:35","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T18:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=12965"},"modified":"2023-08-10T15:22:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T15:22:08","slug":"is-it-fake-news-voter-fraud-or-identity-politics-its-a-mix-of-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=12965","title":{"rendered":"Is it Fake News, Voter Fraud or \u201cIdentity Politics\u201d? It\u2019s a Mix of All"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>By<strong> Alex Gonzalez<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12966\" srcset=\"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/hqdefault.jpg 480w, https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/hqdefault-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/hqdefault-326x245.jpg 326w, https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/hqdefault-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>This is what happens when voters get their news from \u201cfake news\u201d outlets. This interview on CNN with Trump supporters show why \u201cfake news\u201d really shape political discourse in partisan politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those Trump supporter in the interview <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9NOlNDiMO5s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ardently believe<\/a> that 3 Million if \u201cillegals\u201d voted in California, but they cannot explain how this could be possible. But this is just partisan politics fueled by fake news. When people are fixated on lies that re-enforces their political partisanship \u2013 or the idea that millions of voters in California are illegal because there are too many Latino voters who voted against Trump \u2013 rational politics\/policies are blocked from the voter\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/latinosreadytovote.com\/?p=27295\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">analysis<\/a> by Phil Bump&nbsp;shows that only 80,000 voters in three states (Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) made it possible for Trump to win. If you were to tell the same people who claim that 3 Million voted illegally in California that voter fraud is more likely in those three states where 80,000 votes made possible for trump to win, they will withdraw to their subtle \u201cidentity politics\u201d arguing that voter fraud only happens in states with large Hispanic populations and that voted against Trump. Somehow they strongly believe that if too many Hispanics register to vote, some of them must be \u201cillegal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In California, in conservative circles and among party activists, due to the fact that the party has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/politics-government\/capitol-alert\/article117138303.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">failed to adjust <\/a>to the new demographics and shift job industries, and the fact GOP voter registration is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sos.ca.gov\/administration\/news-releases-and-advisories\/2016-news-releases-and-advisories\/record-194-million-californians-now-registered-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">only 26%<\/a>, every time there is analysis showing the increase of Latino voter registration, party loyalists always argue that those are all \u201cillegals\u201d who somehow, thanks to Jerry Brown who made it possible for illegals to register, they can go to the DMV and register to vote, they argue. As an official party entity, the California Republican Party (CRP) does not officially promote these \u201cfake news,\u201d<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/essential\/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-california-republicans-allege-that-the-1480458087-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> but it does allow for the flow <\/a>of these fake news into party circles and doesn\u2019t bother to correct the any misleading information. The mostly white seniors party base needs red meat; and fake news&nbsp; about voter fraud is a form or party propaganda to appease the base and justify why voter registration for Republican party&nbsp; keep declining. This is also a form of sublet \u201cidentity politics\u201d pushed by Party loyalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Texas, the voter fraud argument is different. Of the 93 cases of voter fraud filed with the Secretary of State, only one case (in-person voting) could have been prevented with the Voter ID Law that was deemed unconstitutional by the conservative 5th Appellate Circuit. However, most of voter fraud in Texas cases had to do with \u201cassistance\u201d to seniors in early voting and mail-in ballots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2016\/10\/18\/texas-republicans-trumps-voter-fraud-concerns-noth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mail-in ballot fraud long has been the most prevalent form of election fraud handled by the attorney general\u2019s office.<\/a> Records from the agency dating to the 2004 primary election show the agency opened 93 cases of election violations, with almost half involving violations of mail-in ballot procedures.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there has never been an attempt by the Republicans in legislature to fix \u201cassistance\u201d early voting and mail-in voting to prevent fraud because about 60% half of all those who vote Republican are seniors who vote early and also use \u201cassistance\u201d and mail-in voters. But Republicans keep using the argument of <em>in-person<\/em> voter as real since these are voters who tend to be young and Hispanic, albeit there is not data showing that and the Voter ID law has been ruled it\u2019s unconstitutional. Thus, Republicans in Texas are right that there is voter fraud, is small, but it\u2019s real. But Republicans also are not trying to fix the real source of the fraud with the Voter ID Law because they don\u2019t want to make it&nbsp; harder for white seniors by creating more stringent requirement to vote via mail-in or with assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/latinosreadytovote.com\/?p=27306\">But just as in California, in Texas<\/a>, Republicans argue that voter fraud occurs mostly predominantly Hispanic areas like South Texas and San Antonio, but refuse to talk about mail-in and assistance voter fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is also a form is \u201cwhite identity politics\u201d and fake news has become a conduct of red meat for party activist and Trump supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Alex Gonzalez is a political Analyst and Political Director for Latinos Ready To Vote. Comments to vote@latinosreadytovote.com or <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlexGonzTXCA\">@AlexGonzTXCA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>By Alex Gonzalez This is what happens when voters get their news from &ldquo;fake news&rdquo; outlets. This interview on CNN with Trump supporters show why &ldquo;fake news&rdquo; really shape political discourse in partisan politics. Those <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=12965\" title=\"Is it Fake News, Voter Fraud or \u201cIdentity Politics\u201d? It\u2019s a Mix of All\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,73],"tags":[85],"class_list":{"0":"post-12965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lrtv-articles","8":"category-politics","9":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12965"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13735,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12965\/revisions\/13735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}