In an effort to get the “blue-sky” brainstorming session off to a productive start, GOP strategist Chuck Harpster reportedly reminded a group of state legislators from around the country Friday that there were no bad ideas when it came to suppressing the Black vote. “Don’t worry about budgets or logistics—for the purposes of this meeting, let’s just imagine there are absolutely no restrictions on how we can go about disenfranchising millions of Black people,” said Harpster, urging lawmakers to think outside the box and remarking that there was no right or wrong way to systematically undermine the constitutional rights of African Americans. “I don’t want to hear purging the voter rolls or making them stand in longer lines. That’s old hat, and we need fresh thinking; maybe there’s some sort of separate line for Black people, and then their ballots get fed directly into an incinerator. Maybe we send out letters telling them their polling place has moved to China. Maybe we go to all the voting sites in Black neighborhoods and install teeny-tiny doors that no one can get through without crawling on their hands and knees, and even then it’s a pretty tight squeeze. I’m just batting around ideas here. Let’s hear some of yours.” At press time, sources confirmed a state senator from Georgia had raised his hand and observed that in his father’s day, a pretty effective strategy had been simply threatening to kill any Black person who attempted to vote.
