The threat could hardly be clearer: Some candidates for secretary of state deny the verified outcome of the 2020 election, raising serious questions about whether they’ll reject results – and the rule of law – if they gain office.
In response, political opponents from both parties have launched efforts to defeat election deniers at the polls this fall.
Given the clear and present danger these candidates pose to our democracy, that’s a good thing. But political action committees and opposition ads, on their own, are Band-Aids. They may succeed in keeping some deniers out of power. But, with 10 states — including swing states Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania — at risk of putting deniers in office this cycle alone, an electoral strategy won’t succeed everywhere, in this cycle and for the future. It also does nothing to address the rising threat that partisan poll workers will advantage their side at the precinct level.
