Attacks on election integrity must stop.
As voters, we give our election officials extraordinary power and expect a high level of accountability. Our secretaries of state, and our county and municipal clerks do their jobs and uphold the Constitution. What’s missing are elected and candidate Republicans who clearly defend and back our election officials. Their silence is complicity to an authoritarian’s lies.
Congressional representatives and we, the electorate, need to counter misleading and false allegations. Attacks on workers, processes, and results steal our rights and freedom, and undermine faith in the voting process. Unpacking lies starts at home, with us defending and supporting our election officials. Better yet, become an election worker and be a first-hand witness to the scrupulous integrity and fairness that our election officials extend to the voters.
The Justice Department does not view voter fraud as a problem since it quietly canceled election-integrity training for prosecutors and FBI agents; deleted “Prosecution of Election Offenses Guide” from its website; decimated its Public Integrity Section by firing most of its lawyers and suspending their supervision of election fraud cases, including allegations of election disinformation; and failed to replace the director of its elections crimes branch. The President recently disabled the Election Assistance Commission. Voter fraud is rare and past incidences have never been enough to change election results.
We cannot be complacent. We vote against our own best interest if we support candidates who voice election lies.
Evelyn Gallegos
Brighton
