I’m a Republican myself, so I don’t see this as a partisan attack — just an observation. I find it interesting that there’s so much focus on Democrats allegedly undermining election integrity, when some of the most visible attempts to overturn results have come from within the Republican Party.
That’s also why the SAVE Act discussion surprises me a bit. Stronger election safeguards sound good in theory, but depending on how they’re applied, they could potentially work against anyone — including Republicans — if the rules had existed during past elections.
To me, protecting elections should be less about scoring political points and more about making sure the process is consistent, transparent, and trusted by everyone, regardless of party.
You are right about what election safeguards should look like. That’s the problem in a nutshell: the GOP election integrity efforts have never really been about election integrity. For at least a decade most election integrity efforts pushed by the GOP have been barely disguised programs designed to force voters off the rolls.
Great post that concisely and accurately frames many of the counterarguments we will all need in the coming year to fight the onslaught of lies and misinformation that will be used to provide pretexts for challenging legitimate election results.
Also, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would be remiss if I did not make the following tangential point, as I never want it to be forgotten. After a failed and humiliating summit with President Putin in Alaska, President Trump said that he agreed with President Putin (“a smart man”) that the reason for all the bloodshed in Ukraine was the fact that the American people use mail-in voting. That may not be the depths President Trump will go to in order to avoid saying that he lost the 2020 election, I have failed every time I try to put limits on the depths he will go to, but I cannot imagine a more hateful thing to say about the American people than to blame us for Russia’s depravities in Ukraine simply because his ego, insecurities, or delusions will not allow him to face the truth that the American people rejected him.
Let's say vote-by-mail states continue their easy access operations in the next election. Is there any chance that those states' results will be invalidated by the regime? Will entire states be disenfranchised if they don't prove that in-person, id-checked voting took place?
Thank you for reminding us of the most important truth: voting is our fundamental constitutional right. Trump’s lying and bs shouldn’t surprise any of us but we can still be shocked by his continual attacks on the foundation of America democracy. He reminds us routinely that he truly is an authoritarian at heart.
I’m a Republican myself, so I don’t see this as a partisan attack — just an observation. I find it interesting that there’s so much focus on Democrats allegedly undermining election integrity, when some of the most visible attempts to overturn results have come from within the Republican Party.
That’s also why the SAVE Act discussion surprises me a bit. Stronger election safeguards sound good in theory, but depending on how they’re applied, they could potentially work against anyone — including Republicans — if the rules had existed during past elections.
To me, protecting elections should be less about scoring political points and more about making sure the process is consistent, transparent, and trusted by everyone, regardless of party.
You are right about what election safeguards should look like. That’s the problem in a nutshell: the GOP election integrity efforts have never really been about election integrity. For at least a decade most election integrity efforts pushed by the GOP have been barely disguised programs designed to force voters off the rolls.
Great post that concisely and accurately frames many of the counterarguments we will all need in the coming year to fight the onslaught of lies and misinformation that will be used to provide pretexts for challenging legitimate election results.
Also, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would be remiss if I did not make the following tangential point, as I never want it to be forgotten. After a failed and humiliating summit with President Putin in Alaska, President Trump said that he agreed with President Putin (“a smart man”) that the reason for all the bloodshed in Ukraine was the fact that the American people use mail-in voting. That may not be the depths President Trump will go to in order to avoid saying that he lost the 2020 election, I have failed every time I try to put limits on the depths he will go to, but I cannot imagine a more hateful thing to say about the American people than to blame us for Russia’s depravities in Ukraine simply because his ego, insecurities, or delusions will not allow him to face the truth that the American people rejected him.
Let's say vote-by-mail states continue their easy access operations in the next election. Is there any chance that those states' results will be invalidated by the regime? Will entire states be disenfranchised if they don't prove that in-person, id-checked voting took place?
Thank you for reminding us of the most important truth: voting is our fundamental constitutional right. Trump’s lying and bs shouldn’t surprise any of us but we can still be shocked by his continual attacks on the foundation of America democracy. He reminds us routinely that he truly is an authoritarian at heart.