Republicans really do think voter fraud is common and unpunished

From: orlandosentinel.com

“Three Villagers were recently arrested and face charges of casting more than one vote during the 2020 election, according to various multiple outlets.

Joan Halstead, Jay Ketcik and John Rider all face felony charges of casting more than one ballot in an election, according to a county arrest reports.

It is unclear which candidate the three voted for but records show Halstead, 71, and Ketcik, 63, are registered Republicans. Rider, 61, has no party affiliation.”

The Republican style of messaging is to make bold unsupported claims, assume (correctly) that the media will repeat it and cry censorship if anyone challenges or checks it.

Fox viewers think that voter fraud is both common and unpunished. They think people vote illegally all the time and never get caught. And they think this because of Republican messaging on the topic that is sent out via Fox and other right wing media sources. Their social media diet likely also contains this same refrain.

This is why the three of them tried to vote illegally and why they are shocked to learn they aren’t getting away with it. Likewise, Fox viewers reading this story are not going to walk away thinking voter fraud isn’t common. Rather, the take away will be that Republicans are being punished and Democrats get away with it.