The next election isn’t only about Democrats and Republicans. It’s about democracy
When Idahoans vote in the 2022 elections later this year, Democrats and Republicans will not be the only candidates on the ballot — democracy will be as well. Idaho voters must do their part to ensure that future elections continue to represent the will of its people.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency called the 2020 presidential election the “most secure in American history.” Former President Donald Trump’s Attorney General William Barr previously declared that there was no evidence of voter fraud that could have changed the outcome of the election, and more recent investigations have only bolstered this assertion. Yet, across the country, countless candidates running for elected office continue to question the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential elections results, including in Idaho, fueled in large part by fact-free claims from Trump and his allies.
If those running for office cannot tell a free and fair election from a rigged one, who’s to say how they’ll behave once they’re in office? If they have a role in overseeing elections, they could perhaps try to weaponize their offices to interfere in the counting and certification of votes. And even if they don’t, they could simply try to sow doubts about any local, state, or federal elections that their party loses. As a former Elections Director for Ada County, I shudder to think about such possibilities and the potential consequences for democracy.
Some may be inclined to view such commentary as partisan, but doing so would be a mistake. A number of Idaho Republican elected officials have pushed back on election disinformation and upheld their civic duty to secure Idaho’s elections.
In 2020, many Idaho voters feared going to the polls because of the pandemic and chose to vote by mail. Anticipating this challenge, Phil McGrane, the Ada County clerk and current Republican candidate for secretary of state, helped lead successful efforts to call for a special legislative session and pass a bill during the session allowing for the opening of absentee ballots beginning seven days before the presidential election. This not only enabled election officials to quickly report results of the presidential election, despite having to process over 400,000 mail ballots; it also made it harder for bad actors to exploit the period of time between when the polls closed and when the results were announced to try to discredit the electoral process.
In addition to calling the 2020 special legislative session, which contributed to a well-run presidential election, Idaho Governor Brad Little has taken a number of other steps to strengthen Idaho elections. Last year he appointed a cyber task force of notable experts to ensure Idaho’s electoral infrastructure remains secure against rapidly evolving threats. And last month, Little’s recommended budget included a half-million dollars for election audits to help ensure votes are recorded and counted accurately. Such audits can also help restore public confidence in elections.
When Texas — leaning heavily on discredited claims of election fraud in swing states — decided to challenge the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin on the basis that those states implemented pandemic-related changes to election procedures that were illegal and cast into question the election results, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden could have caved to the political pressure of being in the “reddest of red states,” but he did not. Instead, he correctly decided not to join the suit, citing the dangerous precedent it could set allowing states to intervene in another’s affairs — including allowing courts to overturn settled, certified election results. “As attorney general, I have significant concerns about supporting a legal argument that could result in other states litigating against legal decisions made by Idaho’s legislature and governor,” said Wasden.
And when MyPillow founder Mike Lindell falsely alleged that all 44 Idaho counties participated in election fraud, Idaho’s Secretary of State’s office audited three of these counties and found a margin of error well below the margin that Lindell claimed. The Republican-led Secretary of State’s office also noted that seven of Idaho’s counties that Lindell claimed were subject to electronic manipulation do not use electronic voting, and has recently sent a joint cease-and-desist letter with the Attorney General Wasden demanding that Lindell “promptly remove all false statements about Idaho elections information from [his] website” and “refrain from making similar statements in the future.”
The next time an individual like Mike Lindell tries to make false statements about future Idaho elections, who do Idaho voters want on the front lines protecting their electoral infrastructure? Officials who fan the flames of conspiracy theorists, putting people’s lives and the future of genuine democratic elections at risk? Or leaders with a proven track record of protecting elections who seek to make continuous improvements to ensure their security? This decision rests in the hands of Idaho voters, and I’m confident they’ll choose wisely.