The People Who Count Our Elections--or Can Grind the Process to a Halt

[Nevilledog]

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Taniel
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The mechanics of vote counting rely on a convoluted series of decisions by individual officials... many of whom have powers that could grind the machinery of democracy to a halt.

2022 will be a big test of that.

boltsmag.org
The People Who Count Our Elections—or Can Grind the Process to a Halt - Bolts
Our new state-by-state database lays out the web of public officials who are responsible for counting, canvassing, and certifying elections.
2:25 PM · Jul 21, 2022

https://boltsmag.org/the-people-who-count-our-elections/

The certification of President Biden’s win in Michigan was in serious doubt after the 2020 election. In Detroit’s Wayne County, the Republican members of the board of canvassers initially refused to certify the results, citing baseless allegations of “irregularities” in several local precincts. Under pressure, the local board eventually and unanimously certified the results. But the Republicans on the state’s canvassing board renewed their objections to Detroit’s vote count until one Republican’s decision to greenlight the results allowed the process to move forward.

The 2020 election exposed more than any other how the mechanics of vote counting rely on a convoluted series of decisions by individual officials. Many are imbued with powers that, depending on how they wield them, can grind the machinery of democracy to a halt, as is made clear by the revelations about former President Donald Trump’s plot to convince state and local officials to deny the results of the 2020 election. Even when their tasks are ceremonial, the system may still hinge on their operating in good faith and without desire to overturn an election.

Trump and his allies have only intensified their focus on this sea of decision-makers, building strength. The Republican Party in Michigan has replaced many of its members on canvassing boards with representatives who do not say whether they would have certified the 2020 election, including in Wayne County. In Wisconsin, one of the GOP members of the state’s elections commission—the body tasked with certifying results—actively participated in the efforts to overturn Biden’s win in 2020. The commission’s chair, another Republican, is silent on the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

Elsewhere in the country, election deniers are running for secretary of state or other critical local offices like county clerk and election judge, often with vows to intervene in upcoming elections; and local elections officials have faced persistent harassment from proponents of the Big Lie.

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[4dog]

1. For background on vote counting

Read Jennifer Cohn (JennyCohn1) on Twitter or Medium.