The latest GOP primaries point to serious election chaos ahead

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

Paul Waldman
@paulwaldman1
County councils refusing to certify results, far-right sheriffs seizing voting machines, state legislatures taking over, election deniers everywhere - this election is going to be utter chaos, and it'll be even worse in 2024:

washingtonpost.com
Opinion | The latest GOP primaries point to serious election chaos ahead
What happens when conspiracy theorists run elections across the country?
12:00 PM · Jun 15, 2022

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/15/gop-primaries-election-chaos-is-coming/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/LVawj


We’re in primary season, which means that almost every Tuesday, a few new election deniers win the Republican nomination for seats from governor to senator to city councilperson. And what we’re seeing in the latest primaries is truly ominous for the future of democracy.

November’s election is going to bring chaos. And as bad as it will be, it’s only a taste of what’s to come in 2024. That election could be an outright cataclysm — potentially nothing less than the end of democracy as we have known it.

Consider the Nevada primaries that just concluded on Tuesday. Nevada is exactly the kind of swing state that could go to the opposition party in an off year, and the Republican Party there is now dominated by conspiracy theorists. Its nominee for Senate is Adam Laxalt, who insists that Donald Trump was the true winner in 2020 and has said that while fraud happens in cities where Democrats live, the vote in Republican areas is “legitimate.”

Even worse, the Republican nominee for secretary of state is right-wing extremist Jim Marchant. He got into the election denial business when he lost a race for U.S. House; he claimed it was stolen from him. Marchant’s website says his top priority will be overhauling Nevada’s “fraudulent” elections, and he has said he would not have certified Joe Biden’s 2020 win in the state.

*snip*

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Unilaterally overturning election results is tantamount to treason against democracy

One person does not decide elections unless its anonymous in the ballot box by one vote.

[PortTack]

2. This! Not saying they won't try

Also, by law they have a specified amount of time to certify votes. If they don’t then they lose the right to have of the votes counted. This won’t be just a democratic issue