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Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026

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Stories of voter suppression and those dastardly MAGAs trying to rig elections are reliable bait to stoke up the base and get the vote out? Or at least keep the voting blocs reliably voting for you on the basis that "We really do represent you, them over there are trying to take your rights away, including your vote"?

Being maximally cynical, if I'm selling my vote, I want to know there's a market for it. If Party Gamboge candidate needs just one thousand more votes to get over the line, and they wait till they know the margin of votes they need, then my vote is only worth what they will pay me if it gets counted, even if it arrives after close of polling. So I'm motivated to vote Gamboge to keep my vote worth the price they'll pay, if they're the party pushing for "no need for ID, votes that arrive by mail up to three days after the poll closed are eligible to be counted (so long as the postmark is right, and if the postmark is blurry eh we'll give it the benefit of the doubt), and everyone gets to exercise their right to vote even if they need a little help along the way!"

But there probably isn't enough outright buying of votes for this to be happening a lot.