Republicans mean to steal the 2022 midterms and the 2024 Presidential election by any means possible, and a good many that aren’t. They have an idea that they can put stooges—or if you prefer, crooks—into election posts to go beyond the law to outright theft. WE THE PEOPLE, of course, mean to stop them with the full-court legal press, new voting rights laws, monster GOTV, and more, all of which we will cover in future episodes of this series.
In addition to voter suppression and gerrymanders, which constitute the war on voters, there are three fronts in this war on elections: terrorizing officials to get them to quit, replacing officials involuntarily if they don’t quit (today’s theme), and taking away officials’ authority to oversee elections. We have done the first, and will come to the third.
During the 2020 election, key election officials refused to play along with Trump’s election lies.
Now, the @GOP is moving to replace them with sycophants who might play along next time.
First, a large portion of the population
believes elections are fraudulent. Second, election agencies are desperate for new poll workers. Third, organized Alt-right groups that have demonstrated their ability to interfere with elections. This creates a possible scenario where Alt-right groups organize members to fill empty poll worker positions and election agencies recruit them out of desperation.
No, not The Three Stooges. They were patriots, as we saw in You Nazty Spy!
Truth Sandwiches
That linked story goes on with multiple examples, such as
Republican Party leaders across the battleground state of Michigan have quietly worked in recent weeks to replace incumbent county election officials with newcomers, some of whom have sought to undermine the public's faith in the 2020 vote. The trend focuses on four-member county canvassing boards, the bipartisan panels in charge of verifying records and importantly, certifying results.
Now, as to what we can do,
Election Officials Under Attack: Scapegoated for election outcomes that some politicians and voters did not like, election officials have been under unprecedented attack. Here's a plan to protect them. #TruthBrigade #VoterProtection
Election Officials Under Attack
Scapegoated for election outcomes that some politicians and voters did not like, election officials have been under unprecedented attack. Here's a plan to protect them.
In several states, party leaders have censured and replaced officials who insisted on telling the truth about the security and accuracy of the election Legislators have introduced bills that would impose criminal penalties on election officials and workers for taking steps like proactively sending mail ballot applications to voters or, under certain circumstances, purchasing advertisements about upcoming elections on social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. Finally, and most troublingly for the future of our democracy, state legislatures across the nation have taken steps to strip election officials of the power to run, count, and certify elections, consolidating power in their own hands over processes intended to be free of partisan or political interference.
The Brennan Center recommends various steps that can be taken to strengthen our election infrastructure, but does not address the need for Federal laws to prevent or punish such shenanigans.
News
Michigan Republicans Are Quietly Replacing Officials Who Certify Vote Totals
Like lots of other rank-and-file Republicans, Robert Boyd has his doubts about the integrity of the last election, particularly in his home state of Michigan — and particularly in Detroit’s TCF Center, where the city’s votes were counted last year despite a concerted effort from local Republicans to disrupt the counting process.
But there’s a big difference between Boyd and others who may share his view: The 73-year-old Rockwood, Michigan resident is the newest member of the four-person Wayne County Board of Canvassers, the body responsible for certifying vote totals for Detroit and the surrounding area.
He’s one of several new members of such boards around the state, chosen by local Republican leaders, who are replacing incumbents who voted to certify the last election under immense, nationwide pressure from their party. The Detroit News first reported on the wave of replacements last week, including incumbents who wanted to be renominated but weren’t.
https://msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/republicans-replace-election-officials-setting-stage-future-crises-n1281413
Learn who are the local people in your town with authority to 'Not Certify' election results. #maddow
Gov. Greg Abbott’s pick for top Texas election post worked with Trump to fight 2020 results
As secretary of state, Fort Worth attorney John Scott would oversee election administration in Texas.
Texas Gov. Abbott appoints new secretary of state who briefly represented Trump in PA election challenge
"John Scott is a proven leader with a passion for public service, and his decades of experience in election law and litigation make him the ideal choice for the Texas Secretary of State," Abbott said in a statement. "John understands the importance of protecting the integrity of our elections and building the Texas brand on an international stage. I am confident that John's experience and expertise will enhance his oversight and leadership over the biggest and most thorough election audit in the country."
I counted eight lies in that paragraph. I’m not certain that I got them all.
Republicans replace election officials, setting stage for future crises
At face value, there was no obvious reason for anyone in Hood County to take issue with Carew, her office, or the way in which the election was administered. And yet, local Republicans nevertheless vilified Carew and demanded her firing. Late last week, she resigned and it's important to understand why. The Texas Tribune recently explained:
[F]ar-right conservatives who preach allegiance to Trump have split with more establishment-aligned Republicans in demanding that Carew's duties be placed under elected County Clerk Katie Lang, who has espoused Trump's stolen-election theory.... [Lang] frequently shares "Stop the Steal" and "Impeach Biden" memes and videos, including those produced by Blue Shark Media, a popular local far-right Facebook and YouTube show that has claimed the presidential election was stolen, vigorously opposed mask mandates and repeatedly called for Carew's ouster.
Michigan Republicans replace local election officials in 'unprecedented' trend
Republican Party leaders across the battleground state of Michigan have quietly worked in recent weeks to replace incumbent county election officials with newcomers, some of whom have sought to undermine the public's faith in the 2020 vote.
Georgia GOP called "shameless" for trying to use new voting law to oust local election officials
Republicans are targeting the state's most Democratic county in a "power grab" to "suppress voters," Democrats say
GOP using new laws to drive out local Democratic election officials — and not just in Georgia
Republican “election subversion” plan kicks into high gear with ouster or replacement of many local officials
Congressional Democrats have introduced a bill aimed at preventing "election subversion" after Republican state lawmakers wasted no time in using newly passed voting laws to seize control of local elections, replacing existing officials with their own appointees.
Democrats have rallied around the For The People Act, also known as HR 1 and S 1, a sweeping voting rights bill that would codify voter protections, create new election administration standards and crack down on dark money in politics. But while the bill could prevent state crackdowns on mail-in voting, driven by false claims about their security by former President Donald Trump and his allies, it would do nothing about the wide range of new state laws that strip power from election officials and will make it easier to overturn future elections.
A group of Senate and House Democrats this week introduced the Preventing Election Subversion Act, aimed at protecting election officials from political pressure by barring unjust removal of local election officials, making it a federal crime to intimidate election workers and restricting poll watchers.
In DeKalb County, local Republicans are moving to replace Baoky Vu, the Republican vice-chair of the county's election board who refuted GOP false election claims, with a far-right conservative Democrats have described as a "white nationalist, misogynist and homophobe" who is "infamous for his hateful antics and supporting overturning the election."
The article cites other actions in yet more states.
- Proposed Wisconsin elections laws could be illegal
“I think it can feel a little bit like whack-a-mole for people who are litigating these issues,” says Mel Barnes, staff attorney with Law Forward, a progressive law firm spearheading legal fights often on the opposite side of the lawyers who have repeatedly taken the side of Republican legislators at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL). “It’s a huge volume and a lot of them are problematic. Wisconsin is very much a part of the national trends.”
In fact, part of why Law Forward was created was Wisconsin’s reputation as a ”real testing ground for very conservative, very anti-voter ideas,” says Barnes. “We’ve had so much of that jammed through in the past decade. Now everything is slightly different, because we have a governor who will veto some of these things. But there’s still a very well-established conservative infrastructure here. And that’s why we see so many of these bills.”
- Georgia Republicans have also given themselves more power over the state election board, while Arizona Republicans are similarly trying to strip powers from the Democratic secretary of state. Arkansas Republicans passed a bill that allows a state board to "take over and conduct elections" if the legislature decides there are doubts about the "appearance of an equal, free and impartial election." Elsewhere, Republicans are snatching power away from local election boards, imposing criminal penalties on election officials and pushing dubious election "audits" like the one currently underway in Arizona.
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