Who do Republican state legislative majorities most fear? Voters.

This fear explains the continuing efforts in many red states to restrict voting access. It explains the manipulation of voting district boundaries to diminish the votes of Black and other minority citizens and of those living in progressive enclaves. And, most ominously, this fear of the verdict of the voters explains the passage of laws that give state legislatures and their lackeys the power to usurp local election officials and toss results.

These lawmakers claim they are addressing problems of voter fraud. But that is a problem that does not exist. Cases of voting fraud are few and isolated. It is a thin excuse for suppressing votes and manipulating results they don’t like.

Republican lawmakers in these states recognize that if more people vote and all votes receive equal weight, it will show the once Grand, but now simply old party is out of step with most Americans. That it is out of step in a country that grows more diverse and accepting of human diversity in its many forms. That is out of step in trying to impose moral codes on others when it comes to which books are available in their library or dealing with an unexpected pregnancy. That it is out of step in refusing to tolerate an honest accounting of U.S. history, a history that includes both pursuing the ideal of individual liberty and the tolerating of profound injustices.

In some states, the Republican grip on power has grown tenuous.

Once reliably red Georgia is now represented by two Democratic senators.

Changing demographics suggest Texas should be another competitive state rather than the solid Republican stronghold it remains. But those demographics matter only if people vote. In Texas, many do not. In 2022, when Republican Greg Abbott defeated Democrat Beto O’Rourke in the race for governor, only 46% of registered voters turned out, meaning 9.6 million of those registered did not bother. Polling suggests 55% of those nonvoters lean Democrat, 45% Republican.

In Georgia, stung by the Senate losses, the Republican legislature gave itself the power to initiate investigations of county election superintendents. The state election board subsequently investigated Fulton County, Georgia’s most populous and home to Atlanta. The investigation could be the prelude to the legislature seeking to reverse results it doesn’t like coming from a county that is a strength for Democrats.

In Texas, the Republican legislature and Governor Abbott targeted Harris County, home to Houston and Democrat leaning. New laws eliminate the local election administrator —in Harris County only — and give the Secretary of State the power to supplant the authority of county election officials. The county has challenged the new laws in court.

The Voting Rights Lab, a nonprofit that tracks election-law legislation, has documented the passage of voter suppression laws across many red states and other moves, such as those in Georgia and Texas, to seize control over local election administration.

In a surprise decision the conservative U.S. Supreme Court, in upholding a lower-court ruling, ordered Alabama to reconfigure congressional district lines that were drawn for the sole purpose of diluting the votes of Black citizens. The state’s legislature has refused.

In the runup to the 2024 election, when control of the Congress and the presidency will again be determined, Democrats should put voting rights front and center and commit to a platform that includes support for passage of a new, tough federal Voting Rights Act that will protect the sanctity of the vote.

Meanwhile, democracy-loving state lawmakers should continue to push laws that improve access to the ballot. Connecticut has done so, with voters approving a state constitutional amendment that opened the door to the legislature allowing two weeks of early, in-person voting starting in 2024.

The good news is that the The Voting Lab documented 64 state bills that were enacted to improve voting access or protect voting rights. The most, and the strongest, were passed by state legislatures controlled by Democrats.

Self-governance should come from the consent of the people — all the people. That consent should be earned by the power of ideas, not by abusing power to limit or dilute votes.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.