Trump supporters' war on ballot drop boxes is as pointless as it is dangerous

MAGA Republicans and their supporters are using the same tactics that a real election observer should safeguard against, Hayes Brown writes. [View in browser]( [Image]( November 2, 2022 THE LATEST [Alternate text] The irony of the GOP's war on ballot drop boxes]( by Hayes Brown "In an ideal world," [writes Hayes Brown](, "the job of an election monitor is to ensure that everyone who comes to a precinct — or casts a ballot in a drop box — is afforded equal protection under the law." But there's no principle that MAGA Republicans can't twist to their own ends. Around the country, he says, "MAGA Republicans and their supporters are using the same tactics that a real election observer should safeguard against." In Arizona, for example, "far-right conspiracy theorists have posted themselves near ballot drop boxes in Maricopa County." In Texas, the secretary of state and the attorney general are sending officials to oversee voting in the state’s third-largest county. "It's hard to overstate," Brown [points out](, "just how much worse these would-be election monitors' plans are than the supposed fraud they claim to be seeking to prevent." Read Hayes Brown's [full analysis]( in your Wednesday [MSNBC Daily](. Stay informed with curated match-ups, race updates and key midterms analysis from experts like Steve Kornacki in our new pop-up elections newsletter: Countdown to Midterms. [CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP](   TOP STORIES [Alternate text] [Image of Lindsey Graham]( [Steve Benen]( [Supreme Court tells Lindsey Graham what he didn’t want to hear]( The Supreme Court left Sen. Graham with little to no option but to testify in Georgia's election probe. [Read more.]( [Ryan Cooper]( [How Obama blew his retirement]( Democrats made Barack Obama president. So why has he abandoned them since? [Read more.]( [Photo of ]( Ja'han Jones]( [Ketanji Brown Jackson schools conservatives on white privilege in college admissions]( Republicans see new opportunity in a Supreme Court that's chock-full of like-minded conservatives. [Read more.]( [Photo of Kari Lake]( [Zeeshan Aleem]( [Why Kari Lake's shocking joke about the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband is unsettling]( [Lake is more controlled and more poised than the average Trump pol.]([Read more.](   TOP VIDEOS [Alternate text] [Photo of Hillary Clinton]( [The ReidOut]( [Hillary Clinton on the GOP's hate toward Nancy Pelosi]( [Image of Michael Fanone]( [Deadline White House]( [Michael Fanone: 'Plenty of evidence' to support indictment of Trump in Jan. 6 riot]( [Photo of President Biden]( [The Mehdi Hasan Show]( [The Biden admin's perspective one week before midterms]( [Photo of Kathy Hochul]( [Katy Tur]( [Gov. Kathy Hochul reacts to New York voters' main concerns](   MORE FROM MSNBC [Alternate text]   [A graphic of WITHpod]( To understand the partisanship and bitterness of American politics today, we have to consider what happened in 1994, Steve Kornacki points out. That's the story he tells in a new six-part original podcast series called '[The Revolution](,' all about how Georgia Congressman Newt Gingrich ushered in a wave of confrontation and conservatism. Lucky for us, Kornacki took some time away from the Big Board to walk through the history and distinct structural features of midterms, how we got to this moment and the numerous ways the elections this fall could parallel 1994.   [A graphic of Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra on a cell phone]( The fifth episode of MSNBC’s newest original podcast series, "Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra" is available now. In the latest episode, the walls begin to close in on members of Congress and the America First movement who are actively involved in a Nazi plot to spread misinformation and propaganda across the country. [Listen now.](   [Image] [Image]   [Privacy]( [Unsubscribe](listvar=sub_daily)