The state of the republic is precarious, but I am hopeful that democracy will prevail because it is resilient. We the people have faced serious threats in the past, including even a Civil War, and we have overcome them. We must continue to pass laws to strengthen our democracy in many states, while in others, we will not back down from defeating a new generation of Jim Crow laws crafted to keep targeted communities from the polls.
We all have a role in strengthening our democracy — especially as the leading Republican presidential candidate who summoned the Jan. 6 insurrection faces multiple indictments and remains under investigation. We have arrived at a moment in our history where many candidates are unwilling to concede defeat at the polls and instead claim, baselessly, that elections were stolen from them.
Those lies have undermined trust in our elections and even our election officials. Across the country, seasoned election officials have been driven out of office because of threats and harassment by election deniers. The same lies have also been used as fuel to pass dozens of laws in the states that make it harder for Americans — particularly in Black and brown communities — to have a say in choosing their elected leaders.
