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The GOP know that currently if there is a high voter turnout and they don't gerrymander and attempt voter supression, they will lose the election.
If they want to remain in power then it's logical to do this. In a fair fight they lose every time.
It's morally reprehensible but people in power tend to want to hang on to it.
Bainbridge-
I rather think that it's the money behind the people in power that want them to hang on to power, as it keeps them in the money. Or probably a combination of the two.
To your point on bringing bad idea to light & debating them - sure, but you can't do that if the other actors do so in bad faith - Vaccines / climate change etc... need reasoned & nuanced explanations at times, but when you're spending your time refuting utter horseshit, that explanation is lost.
cf. the adage about playing chess with pigeons.
NotThamesWater
Fair point.
There does come a point where rational discourse just goes out of the window, particularly when faced with demonstrably untrue nonsense - In the case of US politics (which we can all view from the sidelines with no skin in the game), it seems to be the GOPs stock-in-trade to dissemble & gaslight.
(Not that the Dems are that much better.)