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In last Saturday’s edition of News You Missed, I mentioned that Republicans are using anti-voting litigation to “launder election denialism.” I received a lot of positive feedback and questions about this point. Some of you agreed wholeheartedly, but wanted additional examples. Others asked me to further explain how Republicans are doing this. A few of you weren’t exactly sure what I mean by “laundering.”

Nearly everyone wanted to know what we can do to stop it.

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But first a reminder of what I wrote.

Another way of normalizing their anti-democratic approach is by using the courts as a filter for these claims. As Marshall McLuhan famously observed, “the medium is the message.” By filtering their extremist approach through court cases, Republicans aim to create an air of respectability to them.

That is why, in the last week of August, we again saw a raft of new court cases filed by the GOP asserting extraordinary things. They won’t win, but they hope that by filing these claims in a court, it will make their crackpot theories seem less so.

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I read your email on Saturday (like I always do) and was wondering what you meant in the subject line by “launder election denialism.” Is that illegal?

— Nuri

I am glad you asked. It is my effort to explain why Republicans and their allies file so many extreme anti-voting lawsuits that they clearly have no chance of winning. Certainly, the GOP hopes to win at least some of these cases. However, I am convinced that another reason for these cases is to use the existence of a lawsuit to legitimize anti-voting concepts and behavior.

By filing a lawsuit, election deniers force judges to consider their crackpot theories and anti-democratic views. The media reports that the lawsuit has been filed and is being considered by a judge. They hope that the very fact that a court is considering their claims — even if they are rejected — conveys a sense of legitimacy that there are reasonable positions on both sides.

In my email, I related this to the famous saying that “the medium is the message.” We have learned that the medium through which an idea is communicated can matter as much as the idea itself. When court opinions are the medium, they convey a message of seriousness.

While this strategy is not illegal…

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* What about the raids we saw in Texas? Isn’t that the same thing as what you are saying is happening in court but without any of the same safeguards?
* If Republicans are getting a benefit from bringing frivolous cases and losing, what is the answer? How do we stop them?

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