The GOP should think twice before it tries to mess with elections - The Washington Post

In addition to a slew of efforts to impair access to the ballot, Republicans throughout the country are attempting to shift control of elections away from local authorities or nonpartisan officials and toward partisan GOP operatives. But they should think twice before proceeding with such tactics; they might be venturing into some dangerous territory.

As New York Times reporter Nick Corasaniti explained during an NPR interview, Georgia’s voter suppression law “allows the state elections board to suspend an elections official in [Democratic] counties and insert their own person.” This, Corasaniti said, would change who controls day-to-day election operations, which “risks inserting a whole lot more political and partisan influence in that administration.”

Meanwhile, in Texas, the voting bill that passed the state Senate (but was stymied in the House) would lower the burden of proof for voter-fraud charges from “clear and convincing evidence” to a “preponderance of the evidence.” In other words, a challenger could prevail merely by showing that fraudulent votes “could” have changed the outcome.

To be blunt, these efforts open up the potential for partisan Republicans to overthrow legitimate election results. That is, these laws could allow them to stage a coup, just as the MAGA crowd attempted in 2020. Arizona’s circuslike election “audit” conducted by Republican partisans provides a glimpse of the horror show that could result if partisan Republicans were counting the votes rather than trying to delegitimize the vote after the fact.

This sort of election rigging is difficult to combat at the federal level, even if Democrats manage to pass voting reforms protecting access to the ballot or paper audit trails. (Audits are not much help if the auditors are partisan toadies.) Nevertheless, legal barriers exist that might deter election rigging or a shift in control of elections from nonpartisan to partisan control.

For starters, it is worth remembering that it is illegal under state and federal law to change vote outcomes. This is the basis for the ongoing investigation of the former president’s phone call with Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, in which the election’s loser pleaded with the Republican official to “find” sufficient votes to change the state’s outcome. Georgia prosecutors sent a letter to state officials in February noting potential violations of state law, including “the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election’s administration.”

In addition, federal law says that any person who “knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process” has committed a felony. It also makes it a crime for a “person acting under color of law” to “willfully fail or refuse to tabulate, count, and report” legal votes. In other words, simply putting control of elections in the hands of partisan Republicans does not mean they can flip election results at will.

However, the potential to disrupt and discredit elections is great. And in the case of federal elections, some state legislatures might seek to certify their own slate of electors claiming the voters’ choice was invalidated by fraud.

There are multiple ways to try to head off these efforts. First, the Justice Department should prepare to enforce federal laws, which in some cases may entail criminal prosecution of state officials who fix elections. The department can certainly deploy voting-rights lawyers to observe elections and receive complaints from poll officials and voters. (This, of course, only works when the Justice Department is in the hands of a pro-democracy administration.) A lot of Republicans may decide they really do not want to have authority over elections — and the legal liability that comes with it.

Second, the 2020 presidential election showed that revision of the Electoral Count Act of 1887 — the legislation that came out of the disputed 1876 presidential election — is essential to close loopholes and avenues for mischief that the MAGA crowd tried to exploit. Among the required changes: Clarify that the vice president’s role in revealing the electoral college votes is purely ceremonial; require a supermajority to challenge electoral votes; and clarify that state legislatures cannot replace popular vote results with their own slate of electors.

Third, pro-democracy advocates must mount an effective campaign to educate voters. Forget denouncing the “big lie” that the election was stolen, for now. A more effective campaign may be to convince voters to prevent politicians from reelecting themselves or messing with elections. The reason for putting elections in nonpartisan hands is precisely to prevent those with temporary control of the levers of power from keeping themselves in office. That basic message is more salient than ever: Do not let politicians take away your vote. On that fundamental proposition, even some Republicans might block measures designed to make it easier to steal elections.

Jennifer Rubin is getting her own weekly live chat, where she’ll answer questions and respond to comments from readers on the news of the week every Friday at noon. Submit yours to her first chat, launching on June 11, here.

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The GOP should think twice before it tries to mess with elections - The Washington Post
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