Election subversion can involve a range of measures to change the outcome of a vote, including voter suppression, election denial, disinformation, intimidation and other legal or illegal attempts to not count or disqualify certain votes.[1]
United States
editRichard L. Hasen outlines three main avenues for election subversion in the United States: 1) disqualify votes where a partisan body justifies changing the outcome, (2) fraudulent or suppressive election administration, and (3) actors disrupting the voting, the counting of votes, or the assumption of power by true winner.[2]
Many efforts at election subversion (as well as voter suppression) promoting false claims of election fraud before, during and after attempted election subversion, with the belief in widespread election fraud raising the risk of an election being subverted.[2]
Avenues for election subversion
editDisqualification of votes
editRules that make voting more difficult for some, for example, can become a pretext for disqualifying votes, regardless of whether or not it justifies such a radical action.[2] Activists aligned with Trump have been aggressive in trying to ensure that the voters eligible to vote are more likely to support their candidate in 2024.[3]
The independent state legislature theory in the U.S. suggests allowing state legislatures to unilaterally disqualify votes and send their own electors regardless of the vote outcome.[2][4] The use of the theory was rejected in Moore v. Harper by the US Supreme Court in 2023.[5] Even without the theory, the concern still exists that a Republican state legislature might cite uncertainty as a pretext to throw out legal votes and decide the outcome of an election for Donald Trump in 2024.[6][7]
Election insecurity
editThe lack of election security best-practices creates opportunities for compromised election systems/ballots by third-parties which can also foster mistrust of the results even without evidence of tampering.[8]
Intimidation and/or replacement of election officials
editBy major candidates calling into question the integrity of elections, the ensuing threats towards election officials have led to hundreds of resignations in the U.S. for example, leading to concerns of understaffing and some vacancies being filled by hyper-partisans interested in election subversion.[9] Detroit experienced significant initimidation by Trump-supporters during the counting of ballots in 2020, including banging on the glass and shouting at the workers counting ballots.[10]
Question/deny legitimacy of election
editThis tactic to deny unfavorable results[11] weakens the power of the winners through decreasing the number of citizens who find them legitimate, potentially leading to a breakdown in the rule of law as was seen on January 6, 2021 in the United States.[12] These claims can also be used to try to justify the manipulation of election results in the courts[13] or other bodies of power such as legislatures.[14]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Homer, Rachel; Marsden, Jessica (2023-08-14). "What is election subversion?". Protect Democracy. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
- ^ a b c d Hasen, Richard L. (April 20, 2022). "Identifying and Minimizing the Risk of Election Subversion and Stolen Elections in the Contemporary United States". Harvard Law Review (Essay). Retrieved 2023-11-23.
- ^ "The Shadowy Right-Wing Group That's Suppressing the 2024 Vote". The New Republic. October 16, 2024. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
- ^ Griswold, Eliza (2022-10-31). "How Election Subversion Went Mainstream in Pennsylvania". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
- ^ Cohen, Marshall (2023-06-27). "How the 'independent state legislature' theory, now rejected by SCOTUS, fueled chaos in 2020 and could influence 2024". CNN. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
- ^ Liasson, Mara (November 6, 2021). "Democrats are worried about U.S. democracy. They've got limited tools to protect it". NPR.
- ^ Jackson, David (October 4, 2021). "'Election subversion' accusations: Donald Trump and allies look for new ways to challenge votes". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- ^ Root, Danielle; Kennedy, Liz; Sozan, Michael; Parshall, Jerry (February 12, 2018). "Election Security in All 50 States". Center for American Progress. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
- ^ Levine, Sam; Pilkington, Ed (2022-10-04). "Democracy, poisoned: America's elections are being attacked at every level". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
- ^ "How Trump allies stoked election chaos in Detroit in 2020 — and what they're planning in 2024". NBC News. 2024-10-16. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
- ^ Griswold, Eliza (2022-10-31). "How Election Subversion Went Mainstream in Pennsylvania". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
- ^ Manheim, Lisa Marshall (November 2, 2022). "Forum: Election Law and Election Subversion". The Yale Law Journal. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
- ^ Hasen, Richard L. (2022-11-02). "The Courts Are the Only Thing Holding Back Total Election Subversion". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
- ^ Sweeney Jr., William R.; Vickery, Chad; Ellena, Katherine (September 2, 2016). "Yes, the U.S. presidential election could be manipulated". The Washington Post.
External links
edit"Election Subversion", Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, YouTube: HBO, 6 November 2022