Voter ID laws are designed to help Republicans win, Seth Meyers says, and he has proof

(Image credit: Late Night)

Seth Meyers started out his "closer look" at Tuesday's Wisconsin primary with a bunch of cheese jokes. "But in addition to cheese, Wisconsin is now known for something else: long lines," he said on Wednesday's Late Night. "Voters in some precincts last night waited for hours to cast their ballot because of a restrictive new voter ID law that caused major delays."

"Remember, this is just the primary — the November election could be much worse," he added, with upward of 300,000 registered voters unable to vote. When Republicans pass these strict voter ID laws, they say it's to prevent fraud, but there is no proof that such fraud occurs, so many observers reach the natural conclusion that the purpose of these laws is to help Republicans win elections. "But it's rare that Republicans slip up and actually admit that's what's going on," Meyers said, like Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) "seemed to do" on Tuesday night. He then rolled the tape.

Meyers also looked at human-caused voting problems in Arizona and North Carolina, opining that "the voting process in this country is becoming deeply dysfunctional," and ending with a warning about another Florida 2000 debacle, complete with photos of each candidate in an "Al Gore sadness beard." With the obvious exception of Hillary Clinton, though, the candidates don't look too bad in their photoshopped beards. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.