Reich is making an observation about voting restrictions: multiple U.S. states have enacted measures that research shows disproportionately affect lower-propensity voters. Some evidence suggests certain parties, particularly Republicans, have pursued these restrictions partly as an electoral strategy to reduce turnout among opposing groups. However, it's important to note that this doesn't necessarily prove parties using these measures "can't win on their ideas alone." That's an interpretive claim about political motives that goes beyond what the evidence directly shows. Republican officials typically frame these measures as election integrity safeguards rather than electoral strategy, and that framing disagreement reflects genuine partisan disagreement about voting policy — not just a difference in how they're describing the same underlying reality.