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Next week, Democrats will gather in Chicago at their national convention. With Kamala Harris having already secured the nomination, the four-day affair promises to be a celebration of her ascendency into near rockstar status and Democrats new sense of optimism.

Having stepped aside three weeks earlier, Joe Biden is set to speak on Monday night as a booster of the newly formed Harris-Walz ticket, rather than the nominee himself. As he has throughout his presidency, he will almost certainly talk directly about the threat Donald Trump poses to American democracy.

In fact, the theme of democracy is certain to dominate the convention both inside the hall and in the many meetings, events and parties that surround the convention. In my day-to-day discussions, the topic of democracy is never far from the surface. Indeed, as Harris’ star has risen, Democrats have become even more concerned that Trump will attempt to subvert the election results in 2024.

In just the last few weeks, we have pivoted from worrying about voter disenfranchisement to election deniers tampering with the accurate certification of election results. Over the last four years we have become strangely accustomed to the fact that one major party will ruthlessly attack democracy while the other defends it.

On Thursday evening, the last night of the convention, we will hear from Harris herself. In recent weeks she has smartly framed concerns about democracy as part of a broader fight for freedom. Still, no one should doubt her commitment to free and fair elections.

In 2020, during the depth of the pandemic, Harris offered one of the most thoughtful and innovative bills to protect voting rights. In her acceptance speech at the 2020 convention, she spoke movingly about how history will judge us all by what we do, or fail to do, to protect democracy.

In 2020, she was the warm-up act for Joe Biden. Now, in what will be the most watched speech of her career, she will be the main attraction. I have every reason to believe that she will rise to the occasion as she frames the fight for democracy from the center stage.

For now, let’s get started. And, if you want to read the full version, consider upgrading to our premium membership ([link removed]) for $120/year to continue receiving exclusive content and help support Democracy Docket’s team ahead of a busy election season.

Stage Right

As we await the Democratic convention, Republicans and their election-denying allies have wasted no time in executing their three-part strategy for the November election.
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1. Suppress the vote. In the last few years, Republicans have become comfortable as the party of voter suppression. In 2021 and in each year since then, Republican legislatures have enacted new laws aimed at making it harder to vote. Then, in 2023, Republicans added voter suppression litigation to their arsenal — literally suing states where the GOP thought voting was too easy.

2. Challenge voters, intimidate election workers. From Georgia to Ohio, Nevada to Pennsylvania, the right-wing is trying to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of citizens by submitting spreadsheets of names to county election officials that the GOP would like removed from the voter rolls. At the current pace, we could see one million people affected by Election Day. Meanwhile, Republicans are suing for the right to harass and intimidate election officials — claiming it is their First Amendment right to do so. These two tactics together set the stage for a bumpy election season. If Trump loses, expect both efforts to figure into his false claims of fraud.

3. Refuse certification. When all else fails, the GOP is setting the stage to…

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