Will Election Integrity In 2024 Be Undermined By New Laws?

by Mike Ludwig, Truthout

Despite the predictable howling of certain Republicans, the 2022 midterm elections largely went off without a hitch, a much-needed reprieve from the chaos that erupted in 2020 as former President Donald Trump and his allies lied to voters about a stolen election in a brazen attempt to cling to power. But a new report from nonpartisan legal experts shows we’re not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot.

Trump is running for president once again and currently leads his GOP primary opponents in the polls. Meanwhile, state lawmakers who embraced Trump’s disinformation about widespread “voter fraud” — a propaganda myth that Republicans obsessed over long before Trump ran for president — are pushing a wave of “election subversion” bills that experts say would set conditions for partisans to sow chaos and doubt around the results in 2024.

The term “election subversion” describes scenarios in which election results do not reflect the will of voters. Legal experts say the risk has not subsided despite the relatively smooth midterms, when Republican election deniers such as Kari Lake in Arizona were broadly rejected by voters and saw their objections to the results crumble under public scrutiny.