As you may have noticed,
critical states are making it harder to cast your ballot.
Since the 2016 election, nine states with Republican state legislatures
have passed laws restricting the vote.
In Georgia, North Dakota, in Florida and other key states,
suppression could make the difference in this election.
States keep adding new obstacles that make it harder to vote.
It feels like every election is becoming an episode of
We made minor alterations to some classic obstacles
and created some major headaches.
Oh. Oh. Oh!
OK, that's a metaphor for Georgia.
Last year, Georgia passed something called "exact match."
Now, I know "exact match" sounds like Georgia overcompensating for saying,
"They all look alike."
But it's actually this...
Exact match. That means every letter and every digit on your voter registration
must be identical to what's on your ID.
Any misspelling or other little small error could mean you can't vote.
Imagine potentially being not being able to vote
because your voter registration form
and your driver's license are off by just one letter.
What if you last name is Nandanwar?
You know that's going to be misspelled at some point.
We've all been there, right?
That's an n-word that never comes up in Macon, Georgia.
Exact match standard affects around 53,000 people state-wide in Georgia,
and nearly 70 percent of them are African-Americans.
Exact match discriminates against black voters,
and it could be the deciding factor in Georgia's governor's race.
It's now a dead heat between Republican, Brian Kemp,
and Democrat, Stacey Abrams,
who would be the nation's first black woman governor.
Stacey Abrams is running against Brian Kemp,
Georgia's secretary of state,
who just coincidentally is the guy in Georgia
who enforces voting laws, like the one that could prevent
53,000 people from voting for Stacey Abrams.
In Florida, they cut early voting.
In Ohio, they ended same day voting registration.
There's really only one way to stop future voter suppression,
you have to pay attention to state legislators.
And I know a lot of you are like, "What are state legislators?"
You know those people at the bottom of your voting Scantron?
Where you're like, "Yeah, I don't care about them."
That's your state legislator.
And you know how you have that one woke friend, Andy, who's like,
"Look, this is the cheat sheet, just go in..."
And you're like, "All right, fine. Andy said it's OK.
He recycles, I'll just believe him."
State legislators are the minor leagues of politics.
National politics are the major leagues.
It's exciting: senators, congressmen, the presidency, bribery, corruption,
pee tapes. It's poppin'.
That's why people get tattoos of the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Cubs.
No one gets a tattoo of the Modesto Nuts.
This is a real team.
OK, it's a minor league team by where I live.
There's a mascot. Their mascot is a testicle in a baseball cap.
Don't tell me that's a walnut, walnut's don't have veins.
But the minor leagues matter.
For every José Altuve for the Lancaster JetHawks,
there's a congressman Jim Jordan, who as an Ohio house member back in 1998,
was named "Pro-life Legislator of the Year,"
by the United Conservatives of Ohio.
Say that with me, "United Conservatives of Ohio."
The only phrase more redundant than that is "thirsty DiCaprio."
Or maybe "sanctimonious vegan."
And for every Billy Hamilton for the Bakersfield Blaze,
there's a US Congressman Glenn Grothman.
As a member of the Wisconsin State Senate,
he voted in favor of a strict voter ID bill.
He also said this in 2016,
when asked why he thought Hillary Clinton could lose in Wisconsin.
Well, I think Hillary Clinton is about the weakest candidate
the Democrats have ever put up.
And now we have photo ID, and I think photo ID
is gonna make a little bit of a difference, as well.
I don't think you're supposed to that shit out loud, Glenn.
What did he say on camera after that?
"You know, I'm not a big fan of interracial marriage.
Oh, and if I'm being honest, last night I was driving home,
and I'm not sure if I hit a deer or a beige dude in a in a beige jacket.
Either way, that thing is dead.
State legislators are a big deal.
Even though they're at the bottom of the ballot,
they control how you vote, when you vote and where you vote.
And a lot of them are trying very hard to make sure that you don't count.
So, what I'm saying is, lookout for your Modesto Nuts.