act after the election ( unlike 2016 when the FBI in late October reopened its inquiry into Hillary Clinton ’ s emails ).
Polls have found that 60 percent of likely 2022 voters see Trump ’ s failed coup as criminal . Political independents — who vote sometimes for Republicans and sometimes for Democrats — are increasingly frowning upon Trump ’ s lies and tactics , expect accountability , and say they would not vote for 2020 election-denying candidates seeking office in 2022 ’ s general election .
“ Sixty percent of Americans say that they were not patriots and 63 percent say they were not bystanders ,” pollster Celinda Lake said at a late July briefing by Defend Democracy Project , a Washington-based group dedicated to the principle that voters determine election results .
2022 ’ s Election Deniers
However , as the focus expands from holding the coup plotters accountable to countering ongoing power grabs by Trump Republicans , the challenge gets more complex .
In GOP-majority state legislatures , these authoritarians used 2020 stolen election lies and old cliches demonizing Democrats to pass new laws criminalizing small errors in the bureaucratic tasks conducted by election workers and established get-outthe-vote routines by campaign volunteers . The most common focus of the punitive laws is limiting the use of mailed-out ballots and restricting voters ’ options to legally return them .
A related threat concerns a case the U . S . Supreme Court will hear this fall . It involves the radical right-wing legal theory that was at the heart of Trump ’ s failed coup , the socalled independent state legislature doctrine . Its most extreme version claims that the Constitution only empowers state legislatures to set election rules and run elections , overruling state constitutions , state supreme courts , gubernatorial vetoes , election boards , and citizen initiatives . ( Trump ’ s forged Electoral College certificates in seven states sought to delay Congress on January 6 and redirect the certification of 2020 ’ s winner to GOP-majority state legislatures that would have backed Trump .)
These new laws and legal gambits are based on old lies and partisan prejudices . Since the 1980s , Republicans have been claiming that Democrats can only win if they fabricate voters and votes — so-called voter fraud . But Trump ’ s stolen election lies and failed coup , which can be called election fraud , have been seized upon by GOP opportunists .
Self-appointed election integrity activists have emerged and promoted themselves to Trump ’ s base and right-wing media as super patriots . These posers have raised millions from Trump voters by hawking conspiracy theories that have been debunked by credible Republicans . But their bogus analysis and lies , amplified by right-wing media , have enraged Trump ’ s base .
The consequence is that violent threats against election officials have escalated and not abated . This targeting has roiled the previously boring and bureaucratic field of election administration , which typically are county-level operations staffed by local civil servants .
For example , on July 29 , a Massachusetts man was arrested for an alleged bomb threat against the Arizona secretary of state ’ s office . In Wisconsin , a pro-Trump sheriff in suburban Racine County is refusing to investigate pro-Trump activists who forged online ballot requests ; they wanted to show the process was dishonest but instead were caught by election officials .
“ In many ways , the Republican election officials have it worse than the Democratic election officials ,” said David Becker , founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research ( CEIR ), a non-profit , non-partisan organization that has organized an election official legal defense network , in a late July media briefing .
“ The Republican election officials know the [ 2020 ] election was secure . They did a remarkable job . Most , if not all of them , voted for Trump ,” he continued . “ And now they find themselves under attack and , unlike election officials in maybe deeply blue areas , when they go home at night , their own families , and friends … wonder if they helped steal an election because they have been lied to so much [ by Trump and his boosters ].”
Frontline Responses
Election officials have responded to this fraught new environment by tightening security and reaching out to local media and community leaders , hoping to inform the public that modern election administration is accurate and replete with checks and balances .
Numerous non-profit organizations have catalogued the danger signs and sought to respond . CEIR , for example , has organized a nationwide legal defense network to assist threatened local officials . Neal Kelley , who managed the nation ’ s fifth largest election district in Orange County , California , is now working with the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections , which seeks to train local police to protect election officials and voters from illegal threats and intimidation . Grassroots groups like Scrutineers , which educates activists about election administration , recently conducted non-violent conflict resolution training for election observers .
In many respects , defeating Trump Republicans in 2022 ’ s general election is seen by these advocates of fair elections and representative government as the most tangible line of defense before the 2024 presidential election . As the House Select Committee ’ s disclosures continue and prosecutors move closer to indicting Trump Republicans for their 2020 offenses , the pro-democracy advocates hope Americans will put country ahead of party and vote this fall .
“ An informed voter is a powerful voter ,” said States United Action . “ Election Deniers are on the ballot in many state primaries in August , including all 11 primaries for secretary of state . And pro-democracy candidates of both parties will be on the ballot in the general election this fall . It ’ s never been more important for our state leaders to believe in free , fair , and secure elections .”
86 x The Trial Lawyer