Although the Daily News has long complained about politicians’ efforts to make voting more difficult, as with tougher registration rules, we’ve been reluctant to speculate on why they’re taking such steps. We haven’t said that Republicans, for instance, want to discourage certain people from voting, or that these new voting laws are aimed at creating a political advantage.

It turns out we don’t have to say those things. Republicans are already saying them.

That’s especially interesting because Republicans generally are the ones pushing for election “reforms.”