Just wondering…

…while driving to my polling place to cast my vote in the Super Tuesday Primary here in North Carolina, I caught a piece of a report on the local NPR station that in Texas so far, twice as many people had voted on the Republican side in the Primary than on the Democratic side.

The report claimed that the issues of immigration and the economy are driving Texas Republicans to the polls.

I think that the issues of women’s healthcare and abortion rights, voting rights, attacks on LGBTQIA+ rights, the banning of books, the rewriting of black history, and the overall attack on our democracy by Republicans at all levels everywhere, are issues that would drive Democrats to the polls in droves.

So why are there supposedly twice as many Republicans as Democrats voting so far?

Could it be that we are witnessing the effects of voter restrictions in Texas, enacted in 2021?

Texas Gov Greg Abbott shows off Senate Bill 1, also known as the election integrity bill, after he signed it into law in Tyler, Texas, Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021 (AP Photo/LM Otero)

While advertised as a way to protect elections, these changes in Texas election law are primarily designed to affect populations of voters who tend to cast their votes for Democrats!