'The US could lose the right to vote within months': Top official warns on threat to democracy

[ItsjustMe]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/27/jena-griswold-colorado-elections-secretary-of-state-democracy

Colorado’s secretary of state, Jena Griswold, is warning anyone who will listen that the fate of free and fair elections in the United States hangs in the balance in this November’s midterm contests.

In many of the most competitive races for offices with authority over US elections, Republicans nominated candidates who have embraced or echoed Donald Trump’s myth of a stolen election in 2020.

Griswold, who chairs the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State (Dass) and is running for re-election, is urging Americans to pay attention to the once-sleepy down-ballot contests for secretary of state – lest they lose their democracy.

“What we can expect from the extreme Republicans running across this country is to undermine free and fair elections for the American people, strip Americans of the right to vote, refuse to address security breaches and, unfortunately, be more beholden to Mar-a-Lago than the American people,” Griswold, 37, said in an interview with the Guardian.

She added: “For us, we are trying to save democracy.”

[RKP5637]

1. I seriously wonder how many Americans are totally asleep at the wheel on this. n/t

[elleng]

2. MOST, imo.

[RKP5637]

3. And then they will wake up far too late and say WTF, how did this happen. n/t

[Jilly_in_VA]

4. Most people just don't know

how important this office is in any given state. They have either forgotten high school civics, or they never had to take such a class.

[childfreebychoice]

5. It always amazed me to see ppl, even dems, posting about what Biden, house, senate

Should do about an issue... just reveals how sorely civic needs to be mandatory

[orthoclad]

6. This is a coordinated threat

In tandem with subversive operators running elections at the state level, there is the case of Moore v. Harper on the Extreme Court's docket. Here's a quick look at the implications of that case:
[link:https://www.rawstory.com/experts-warn-of-election-havoc-across-the-us-if-north-carolina-case-succeeds/|]

Moore v. Harper is an expression of the Independent State Legislature theory, which holds that there is no higher authority than state legislatures for running elections. Not state constitution, not governor, not judges. In other words, a gerrymendered state legislature overrules all other authority. Picture this in a state with a thoroughly Reich-wing legislature, plus officials like Tina Peters (under indictment for letting subversives access to Colorado voting machines) and Brian Kemp (who oversaw his own narrowly-won election for Governor while he was Georgia Secretary of State). Combine this with all the poll-tax-like voter restriction laws in effect now.

Fix the Court!

[appalachiablue]

7. K/R so critical, and scary.