When 2020 Election Deniers Become Elections Officials

[Frodo]

As much attention as we are paying to the Senate, House, and gubernatorial races, we need to pay more attention to the usually-overlooked post of secretary of state:

When an election denier becomes an election chief
Trump-aligned secretary of state hopefuls are campaigning against ballot counting machines and could complicate mail voting, among other changes.

[Progressive Pessimist]

These races have me really worried this year, especially in Arizona where Finchem might be the most fringe candidate to be nominated this year, anywhere, and that's saying a lot.

I'm hoping that the aftermath of the 2020 election with the denials and efforts to overturn it have helped Americans previously unfamiliar with the position to understand how impactful it can be now that some of the worst people possible are vying for the position. I want to say that Raffensperger's success in the Georgia primary might be a sign that this is happening, but I can't be sure unless Democrats win every single one of these races in major battleground states.

[ProgressiveModerate]

I actually think that in many cases, the SOS position is a lot of messaging and ultimately courts will step in even if they create distrust. The thing I worry about is on the more local level if you have a bunch of folks working the polls in bad faifth and actually trying to get rid of ballots or make it extremely difficult to get a full and accurate count.

Say for instance someone actually does burn a big bag of ballots, how would we ever be able to recover those votes? Especially if those ballots come from an extremely politically lopsided area.

Republicans have enabled this to be a possibility and I worry we may see it from a few Trumpies deep in the conspiracy and try to argue the burning of the ballots are justified cause they're all from illegals in Pheonix or some bs like that.

[Senator Incitatus]

Again pointing out that changing election procedures by utilizing the legal authority of office in advance of an election is not "stealing the election," at least in any actionable way, contrary to claims heretofore made primarily by supporters of Donald Trump.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

Again pointing out that changing election procedures by utilizing the legal authority of office in advance of an election is not "stealing the election," at least in any actionable way, contrary to claims heretofore made primarily by supporters of Donald Trump.

A lot of these candidates have outright said if republicans don’t win it’s not legitimate and they’ll just keep passing more and more restrictive voter laws till they get the result they want.

It’s not “stealing” it’s government sanction ratf*kcing

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

The ones I'm most worried about are Finchem, Karamo and Lake

[Progressive Pessimist]

The ones I'm most worried about are Finchem, Karamo and Lake

Don't forget about Marchant in Nevada.

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

The ones I'm most worried about are Finchem, Karamo and Lake

Don't forget about Marchant in Nevada.

Yeah. With the domestic violence allegations against Karamo, I would switch the two

[Tekken_Guy]

The ones I'm most worried about are Finchem, Karamo and Lake

Don't forget about Marchant in Nevada.

Yeah. With the domestic violence allegations against Karamo, I would switch the two

I think Marchant will lose, and could lose even if Lombardo and Laxalt win.

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

The ones I'm most worried about are Finchem, Karamo and Lake

Don't forget about Marchant in Nevada.

Yeah. With the domestic violence allegations against Karamo, I would switch the two

I think Marchant will lose, and could lose even if Lombardo and Laxalt win.

I agree I just think he's more likely to win than Karamo at this point

[they don't love you like i love you]

The ones I'm most worried about are Finchem, Karamo and Lake

Don't forget about Marchant in Nevada.

Yeah. With the domestic violence allegations against Karamo, I would switch the two

If Whitmer wins (looking extremely favored) how would Karamo have any chance?

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

The ones I'm most worried about are Finchem, Karamo and Lake

Don't forget about Marchant in Nevada.

Yeah. With the domestic violence allegations against Karamo, I would switch the two

If Whitmer wins (looking extremely favored) how would Karamo have any chance?

I agree I was saying I now think Marchant wins before Karamo due to the domestic violence allegations against the latter

[Frodo]

Thank the Seven:

Democrats Pour Millions Into Key Secretary of State Races

Democrats are pouring millions of dollars into races for secretary of state, buoyed by the nature of their Republican opponents and the stakes for American democracy.

According to an analysis by my colleague Alyce McFadden, Democrats in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota and Nevada have outraised their Republican opponents as of the most recent campaign finance reports. And overall, Democratic-aligned groups working on secretary of state races in those four states have outspent Republicans by nearly $18 million in this election cycle, according to the ad analytics firm AdImpact, with more spending on the way.

The role of a secretary of state varies, but in those four states, as well as Arizona and Pennsylvania (where the governor appoints the secretary), they play a critical role in overseeing the mechanics of elections. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, for example, they often had to make judgment calls about how to ensure that voters had access to the polls when vaccines were not yet available, making elderly and immunocompromised Americans concerned about showing up in person.

Hopefully it isn't too late.

[Frodo]

2020 election deniers who advocated putting on an alternate slate of electors for Trump are leading in their respective secretary of state races in Nevada and Arizona:

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1578802671103840256

[Progressive Pessimist]

2020 election deniers who advocated putting on an alternate slate of electors for Trump are leading in their respective secretary of state races in Nevada and Arizona:

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1578802671103840256

These races really are as important as any gubernatorial or Senate race. And I hope that Democratic investment in these races makes a difference in helping voters realize what the Secretary of State office is and why it's so important these days. If it doesn't work then it's hopeless and the voters who need to be paying attention to these races never will. It's so frustrating, and very akin to why Democrats struggle to win state legislature elections too. All elections matter, not just the high-profile ones and we might learn that lesson in the harshest way possible.

[citizenZ]

I don't think the election deniers will "steal" elections in 2024 so to speak, however I definitely believe the officials and even state lawmakers will repeal most of if not all of any special 2020 COVID-19 related election policies.

Mail in ballots will become something perhaps where you need to jump through several hoops to receive one, and they can only be returned by specific dates well before the election, and only by the actual voter themselves with identification.

I expect an election night more like 2012 and 2016 come 2024.

[Frodo]

These races arguably matter more than who wins control of Congress:

In Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where Joe Biden beat then president Trump in 2020, several Republican candidates who have loudly echoed Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen are trying to win jobs as secretary of state, attorney general or governor in November.

The distinct prospect of some winning top state posts has triggered alarms from election watchdogs, Democrats and some GOP officials, who also worry about what could happen during the 2024 presidential election – especially if Trump is the nominee.

Prominent election deniers Kari Lake, a former Fox News anchor, and Mark Finchem, a state legislator, are vying to become Arizona’s next governor and secretary of state respectively. Lesser known is Abraham Hamadeh, the GOP candidate for attorney general, who reportedly boasted about committing voter fraud in 2008.

Michigan’s conspiracy-pushing candidates include the far-right lawyer Matthew DePerno for attorney general, and part-time community college instructor Kristina Karamo for secretary of state. Trump-backed Tudor Dixon is vying for the governor’s seat.

And in Pennsylvania, state Senator Doug Mastriano who was a key Trump ally scheming to block Biden’s win hopes to become governor, an office that, unlike certain states, has special power to name the secretary of state.

Election officials and watchdogs see these election deniers as part of a larger national phenomenon of about 290 candidates running for state and federal positions who have denied the 2020 presidential election results, as the Washington Post reported.

The secretary of state positions, which twelve election deniers are seeking, pose particular concern. If Karamo, Finchem or Mastriano – who can choose his secretary of state – triumph – at least one prominent purveyor of Trump’s falsehoods would play crucial roles overseeing election procedures for a state that could be pivotal in determining the outcome of the next presidential contest.

[Duke of York]

I don't think the election deniers will "steal" elections in 2024 so to speak, however I definitely believe the officials and even state lawmakers will repeal most of if not all of any special 2020 COVID-19 related election policies.

Mail in ballots will become something perhaps where you need to jump through several hoops to receive one, and they can only be returned by specific dates well before the election, and only by the actual voter themselves with identification.

I expect an election night more like 2012 and 2016 come 2024.

Thats if the Supreme Court doesn't rule in favor of the insanity that is independent state legislature theory giving state legislators and Secretaries of State the power to appoint electors if they don't like the outcome.

[Vosem]

The ones I'm most worried about are Finchem, Karamo and Lake

Don't forget about Marchant in Nevada.

Yeah. With the domestic violence allegations against Karamo, I would switch the two

If Whitmer wins (looking extremely favored) how would Karamo have any chance?

There is a general trend this year of Republicans doing better in downballot races than at the top of the ticket, or there being more support for "Generic R" than for any particularly specific Rs. In Michigan I think polls have Karamo doing worse than Dixon, but DePerno (!) doing better, in spite of his issues (to the point that under normal polling error he's probably favored; this might be because Nessel is unusually controversial, though), but there are other states -- particularly AZ and NV -- where basically every poll has shown downballot Republicans doing better than the top of the ticket, even though those downballot Republicans are ideologically pretty far out there.

[Frodo]

Nevada is the greater concern given Marchant is still leading there:

Election deniers go down in key secretary of state races
Democrats won in Michigan and Minnesota, but Arizona and Nevada remain too close to call as Republicans who dispute the 2020 outcome move to control the election machinery there.

Edit: and to a lesser extent, Wisconsin.  That race is as much of a nail-biter as Nevada, but I am somewhat confident that LaFollette will pull through in the end. 

[Frodo]

With a more than 14,000 vote lead, I am reasonably confident that Aguilar will be the Nevada Secretary of State.  It is just a matter of mainstream news networks calling the race now.

Ditto for Wisconsin with nearly all the votes in, LaFollette has now grown his lead over election denier Loudenbeck with a margin of more than 7,600 votes. 

[Roll Roons]

AZ has also been called for Fontes.

[Frodo]

Finally:

Democrat Cisco Aguilar defeats Trump-backed election denier Jim Marchant in Nevada secretary of state race
Aguilar will make history as Nevada’s first Latino secretary of state.

Now call LaFollette in Wisconsin.