The GOP platform committee adopted language on Tuesday supporting states that have passed voter ID and proof of citizenship laws. The citizenship amendment, proposed by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), would support laws that make voters prove their citizenship before they are allowed on the voter rolls.
“I think it’s important that the Republican Party stand firmly behind the principle that we verify citizenship. There are a lot of other states that would like to move in this direction, and this platform will give them a boost in doing so,” Kobach said.
GOP delegates supporting the amendments alleged that Democrats were stealing elections through voter fraud.
“I think we have to acknowledge and be bold that people on the progressive side are willing to cheat in ways we could never before fathom,” Tamara Hall from Montana said. Hall said she had a disabled daughter who cannot read, write, count or tell time who voted without her permission.
“For cookies and milk they had her vote,” Hall said. “You have no idea the extreme these people will go to to steal an election.”
But GOP delegate Clarence Mingo from Columbus, Ohio said that the GOP had to be careful not to make the issue political.
“I think it is very important and critical that this language not be used for strategic political purposes,” Mingo, an African-American, said. “Our efforts in this regard must be sincere, and that’s to prevent voter fraud. Any other message or any other suggestion that the party or this platform is attempting to suppress votes for political gain I don’t think will help our cause much, and that’s certainly not the intent of this body.
“But I do think it’s terrifically important that we demonstrate sincerity in this regard in that we highlight the fact that this is about voter fraud and not political gain,” Mingo added.
Video of the debate over the citizenship amendment is embedded below.
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