Remember how Republicans wanted “every vote to be counted”? Well, there’s a difference between saying it, and doing it.

The standard Republican policy in any election is simple: keep Democrats from voting. Get police (or people pretending to be police) to knock on doors and patrol streets in minority neighborhoods and intimidate people on election day. Send out mailers telling minorities and immigrants that they’ll be jailed, deported, or otherwise penalized if they vote. If possible, create “felon lists” (filled with non-felon Democrats) and revoke their voting rights without informing them (in Florida, of course, they kept Hispanics off the list to protect Cubans who vote Republican). Rig the voting machines across the country to switch votes for other candidates over to Republicans (and never the other way around; keep track of these stories here), and call it a fluke. Undersupply voting machines in strongly Democratic districts to cause long lines and delays to discourage voters. And on election day, send armies of Republican operatives to polling places, demand that all voters be asked for restrictive IDs (while at the same time, hypocritically opposing voter-motor registration laws), and challenge as many Democrats as possible to scare people off and create logjams in the lines of voters. And more. One Republican in 2004 even talked openly about suppressing the vote in mostly black neighborhoods.

It has become so open, so blatant, and so common that it defies belief that nothing is done about it.

Republicans then have the gall to accuse Democrats of cheating–but what it comes down to is unsubstantiated claims, mostly based on bogus Republican challenges to suppress votes, a very small number of individuals or small groups with only the most tenuous connection to the Democratic Party committing fraud that only affects a handful of votes, and “signs” of voter fraud, like more people registering to vote in Democratic districts. Virtually no hard evidence, never systematic, and never claims about police, voting machines, or other officials or equipment directly involved in election matters.

Look, when one voting machine switches votes from one candidate to another, it’s likely an error. When voting machines across the country consistently switch votes exclusively from non-Republican to Republican candidates, that’s no coincidence. If one election official is found to be doing something fishy, it’s an isolated incident; but when police, election officials, and candidates themselves are caught in illicit activities that overwhelmingly favor Republican candidates, it’s a pattern. And sorry, but Democrats registering to vote is not “election fraud.”

There is a massive amount of evidence of election fraud committed nationwide to win elections for Republicans, but it seems that people are unwilling to prosecute or even believe it because of what it would mean to the legitimacy of our Democracy. This attitude came forth in the 2000 elections, when we were willing to overlook egregious election fraud in order to maintain stability and avoid a constitutional crisis–and Republicans have been running with it ever since, using that fear of chaos as a tool to rig elections.

There is a point where “maintaining stability” costs far too much.