In Michigan, a far-right gubernatorial candidate encouraged election staff to unplug electronic voting machines if they see anything they “don’t like.” Also in Michigan, a Republican Party executive advised future assessors and scrutineers to conceal on them a cell phone, though prohibited in the performance of their duties, to alert in the event of fraud. And, in this same state, an employee was surprised during the primaries of August 2 inserting a USB key into one of the computers which contained data on the voters.
This growing number of incidents worries the authorities, as the mid-term elections on 8 November approach. A large part of the population, convinced by Donald Trump and his allies that the 2020 election was the subject of massive fraud, no longer has confidence in the electoral system. Hence the increasingly violent threats against polling station staff. The Department of Justice has reviewed more than a thousand in one year.
Travis Ford, a resident of Nebraska, was sentenced for claiming on Instagram that he wanted the skin of the head of the Colorado elections. As a result, many employees quit. “The role of poll workers has changed dramatically,” said Lisa Marra, one of the officials in Arizona, in a report by the House of Representatives Oversight Committee. “The fact that so many of us are leaving should be a concern for all Americans.”
And the Republican Party maintains mistrust. He has launched a big offensive to recruit in the key states, among his supporters, tens of thousands of employees in the polling stations and scrutineers, volunteers who observe the conduct of the ballot. According to the secret recording of a meeting, he plans on election day to set up a network of lawyers whom they can contact, in the event of a supposed dispute, and who can block the counting. Democrats fear legions of Trumpists will try to intimidate voters and disrupt the smooth running of the event.
“Sowing doubt on the electoral system”
“We are witnessing a vigorous, concerted and generalized effort to try to sabotage the elections”, summarizes David Levine, researcher at the German Marshall Fund and former electoral official. The probability that this movement will have an impact on the results remains “low because the majority of the staff of the polling stations do their duty, he believes. The real threat, on the other hand, is to cast doubt on the system electoral.” Republicans defend these recruitments, intended, according to them, to improve transparency. It is also a means of mobilizing their troops who would otherwise risk shunning the ballot box.
At the same time, elected Conservatives passed a whole series of laws intended to restrict access to the vote. This year alone, the Brennan Center for Justice has identified more than 400 bills in 39 states. Since 2021, some 42 measures have been adopted in 21 states. Their goal, say the Republicans, is to limit fraud – which is very rare. But they aim above all to make voting more difficult, especially for minorities – most often voting Democratic – by reducing the use of proxies and postal ballots, the opening hours of polling stations… They also grant more power to local elected officials. In Georgia, the local Congress has taken control of the election commission, allowing undesirable members to be purged.
And this is just the beginning… A worrying number of Republican candidates for the post of governor or secretaries of state (responsible for organizing the ballot in the territory) do not recognize the legitimacy of the 2020 ballot. If they win, they will have full power over future elections. “The electoral rules have always given rise to a political battle. But this year, it has become the central subject of the campaign”, continues David Levine. Jim Marchant promised his supporters that once elected Nevada Secretary of State, he would do everything to ensure Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election. He is currently leading in the polls.