After Georgia went blue for the first time since 1992 in the 2020 presidential election and in a pair of key Senate runoffs that delivered Democrats a razor-thin majority in the Senate, Republican state legislatures across the country have introduced a range of proposals designed to limit participation at the ballot box.
In Georgia itself, a bill recently passed requiring ID for absentee ballots, limiting ballot drop boxes, and effectively forbidding the provision of water to voters in line.
For decades, limited polling facilities, often in predominantly Black communities, have resulted in hours-long lines for voters to cast a ballot. Because Election Day isn't a national holiday in the United States, the length of these lines often forces voters to leave, whether they must return to work, they're fatigued, or other reasons.
Republicans have introduced these suppressive bills under the guise of "election security," frequently dismissing concerns that they limit the people's right to vote.
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro was the latest to dismiss these concerns, comparing lengthy voting lines to long lines at Disneyland.
Watch below.
Ben Shapiro: "Voter suppression doesn't involve long lines, any more than long lines at Disneyland are ride suppres… https://t.co/oFgltRPlA4— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1617211578.0
After arguing that voter suppression laws can't possibly be racist because they don't explicitly mention race, Shapiro said:
"Voter suppression doesn't involve long lines any more than long lines at Disneyland are ride suppression."
Unlike voting, riding roller coasters at Disneyland isn't a Constitutional right, nor does a vast number of people being excluded from a roller coaster affect who runs Disneyland.
The fallacy was quickly called out on social media.
This is so stupid because a long line can absolutely be prohibitive if you don’t have infinite time to wait around.… https://t.co/3npoGvLB29— Jared Holt (@Jared Holt) 1617213715.0
For some reason I doubt that this would be his position if disproportionately Republican areas were the ones with t… https://t.co/riSLKiTv5E— Parker Molloy (@Parker Molloy) 1617212545.0
Amusement parks get snarled with lines because rides have scarcity — they can only hold a set number of people at a… https://t.co/k9G4xfrmVd— Greg Greene (@Greg Greene) 1617213252.0
It is impossible to tell how many people choose not to go on Disneyland rides because of the lines... which is also… https://t.co/xJNnhFHFZK— Pé (@Pé) 1617212401.0
Ah yes, the 28th Amendment, protecting the right to ride Splash Mountain https://t.co/LTxbDl6wq2— Dan Saltzstein (@Dan Saltzstein) 1617214875.0
this is one of the dumbest arguments one of the biggest factors in deciding to go to an amusement park is how long… https://t.co/LuFVQlVKGT— Seth Trueger (@Seth Trueger) 1617218108.0
But even if the two were equal, that would only further emphasize disturbing parallels in the voting process.
Disneyland *famously* sells passes that let you skip the lines, how did this analogy escape the writers room https://t.co/h70wpUWcfb— Dave Weigel (@Dave Weigel) 1617213053.0
Disney has invested more in alleviating lines than many red states have put into voting https://t.co/FdSxJZhWg2— Oliver Willis (@Oliver Willis) 1617213455.0
Disney sells a VIP tour for people to skip lines (I'm not talking the FastPass, you occasionally see folks slink in… https://t.co/HMAlz9iDLq— Michael McDonald (@Michael McDonald) 1617213825.0
Shortly after the voter suppression bill in Georgia passed, another bill was introduced by Florida Republicans to echo Georgia's effective prohibition on giving refreshments to voters in line.