Beware of Idaho candidates in Republican primary who do not believe in election integrity

There is a sacred trust Americans have placed in elections in American history that stands out as a beacon of light for nations who have struggled with totalitarian or autocratic governments. That trust was never shaken as it was in the 2020 election when Donald Trump stomped on the norms of democracy, refused to concede a lost bid for reelection, manufactured a case of election denial and then engineered a failed attempt to overturn a duly elected government.

Faith in elections and the acceptance of the results by political candidates is an essential ingredient of a democracy. It is downright scary to see this wave of anti-democracy conspiracy-minded candidates capture the hearts and minds of Idaho voters with their belief that the presidential election of 2020 was somehow stolen by President Joe Biden.

In this week’s primary, some of Idaho’s election deniers are on the ballot, but what is most concerning are two candidates who are running for secretary of state, the state’s election administrator and official verifier of votes cast in Idaho. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a clear and present danger to our republic that election deniers could actually commandeer the election machinery of Idaho.

Imagine if we put criminals in charge of our police departments or arsonists in charge of our fire departments. It makes no more sense to put election deniers in positions of power where they oversee Idaho’s elections.

Voters in Idaho have a clear choice when it comes to who will serve as secretary of state and protect Idaho’s election machinery and serve as guardian of this most special moment in the life of a democracy.

Phil McGrane is an experienced election administrator who understands the importance of free and fair elections. He has served with integrity as Ada County clerk, and he has advocated a balance between election security and voting access. McGrane has also championed the importance of early voting and advocated for more funding for elections that will guarantee free and fair elections in Idaho. Finally, he has criticized excessive fear-mongering about election security issues.

There are two other candidates on the Republican ballot seeking to be nominated for secretary of state. Neither has an inkling of the experience McGrane would bring to the job and both are election deniers who would jeopardize Idaho’s elections for years to come.

State Rep. Dorothy Moon has gone so far off the deep end that she falsely claimed voters from Canada were crossing the border into Idaho and voting in our elections, which was refuted by Idaho’s deputy secretary of state. Moon denies Trump lost the 2020 election and joined 186 state legislators nationwide calling for “forensic audits” of the election results in all 50 states and the possible decertification of certain electors — something experts say is legally and constitutionally impossible.

The other candidate for secretary of state in the Republican primary is hardly an improvement on Moon. State Sen. Mary Souza sees a villain lurking behind every ballot box, warning Idahoans that “we have to have our eyes wide open in Idaho and we have to secure our system even if we don’t have fraud right now, it is coming and it is all around us and we need to make sure we have a safe system.” Souza makes you want to take a shower to wash away those election cooties.

States United Action, a group advocating election integrity and holding democracy violators accountable estimates that more than 60% of secretary of state races this year feature at least one election denier on the ballot. (Idaho gets a dishonorable mention by having two such election deniers on the ballot.)

The threat is real as candidates and office-holders attempt to overturn elections won fair and square. In Nevada, where Biden won by 33,500 votes, one Republican secretary of state candidate claims he would not have certified Biden’s victory. In Arizona, Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem signed a joint resolution calling for all of the state’s Electoral College votes to go to Trump even though Biden carried Arizona by 10,000.

We are at a crossroads in our democracy with some candidates willing to attest to their conspiratorial and election denying intent and some courageously standing up for election integrity.

As far northwest as Idaho lies and as one of the least populous states, it sometimes feels like there is very little Idaho voters can do to make a difference in this steady drift toward autocratic thinking and mean-spirited governing.

But in Tuesday’s primary election this is certainly not the case in the Republican primary. There are choices up and down the ballot between candidates and office-holders who support our democratic way of life and are willing to stand up and speak out and those who undermine our faith in elections that serve as the bedrock of our democracy.

Make no mistake about it. We as Idahoans can make a difference by supporting candidates like Phil McGrane for secretary of state. It will also send a message that Idahoans do not subscribe to election denial and believe in the integrity of our electoral process.