MISS INFORMATION – Republicans Are Building an Election Subversion War Machine
By Judy Gordon, DPSC Secretary
With Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on the ticket, Democrats are energized and hopeful. We are now engaged in the hard work of ensuring they get elected along with all other Democrats up and down the ballot. However, even if we win the popular vote and Electoral College, a looming threat remains: the refusal of Republican election officials to certify the election results.
MAGA election deniers throughout the country are mobilizing yet again to undermine democracy. MAGA Republicans have been lying about election fraud and stolen elections for years. Trump’s own top election official declared the 2020 race that elected Joe Biden the most secure in American history and was summarily fired.
According to noted Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias, rather than focusing on traditional get out the vote efforts, Republicans are using well-funded legal groups to prepare to subvert the 2024 election. In Elias’s words, “Republicans are building an election subversion war machine.”
Rolling Stone reports that Republicans have refused to certify elections at least 25 times since Trump lost in 2020. MAGA Republicans have taken over Georgia’s state election board and are working to corrupt election officials in six battleground states. These are far from the only states eager to do Trump’s nefarious bidding.
New Mexico’s elections are ranked the best in the nation, yet we have our own home-grown deniers. MAGA election denier Yvette Herrell is running in NM Congressional District 2 against Democratic incumbent Rep. Gabe Vasquez. As a member of the U.S. Congress at the time, Herrell refused to certify the 2020 election. According to Common Cause, Herrell played a clear role in spreading disinformation around the election, leading to the violence on January 6, 2021.
Former Otero County Commissioner and Cowboys for Trump founder Couy “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat” Griffin refused to certify the 2020 election based on his “gut feeling and intuition.” Griffin subsequently participated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Fortunately, he is now under a lifetime ban from holding public office in New Mexico.
Right here at home, Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block refused to certify the June 2022 primary election, perhaps because he failed in his bid for governor. Like many MAGA Republicans, Block appears to believe the only fair election is one he wins or in which he has no personal stake.
And then there were New Mexico’s fake electors, who were prepared to subvert the will of New Mexico’s voters.
Certifying elections is a ministerial duty. This makes it a legal obligation, not an optional or discretionary act.
New Mexico is well positioned to certify the 2024 election. Recalcitrant officials can be directed to certify through a writ of mandamus, which is a court order compelling an official to perform an act required by law. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver compelled enough commissioners in Otero County (but not Griffin) to certify the 2022 election in this way. She will undoubtedly use mandamus again if confronted with election denial this year.
MAGA Republicans are also engaged in vigorous voter suppression efforts throughout the country. In 2023, the Brennan Center for Justice reported that since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, at least 29 states had passed 94 restrictive voting laws. Some have been blocked by courts or repealed, but most are still in effect. MAGA purges of voter rolls are rampant, likely denying many citizens their right to vote.
Democrats must be prepared to fight election subversion in court, but we can all fight it at the ballot box. The best thing we can do is win in a Big Blue Wave so the will of the people is unmistakable to all—including MAGA Republicans and the MAGA Supreme Court.
VOTE EARLY
Early Voting Starts Tuesday, October 8.
