The top election officials in battleground states have first-hand
experience with the threats facing our democracy and are reaching out for
help.
Read their op-ed in CNN below. Then, [ [link removed] ]join PCCC members who are donating
to the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State that is working to
elect Democratic, pro-voter, pro-democracy Secretaries of State next year
in Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia.
-- The PCCC Team ([ [link removed] ]@BoldProgressive)
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Battling election misinformation is key for democracy in 2022
CNN OP-ED by Secretaries of State Jocelyn Benson (MI) and Katie Hobbs (AZ)
We are in the era of disinformation.
One year ago this week the polls closed on one of our nation's most secure
and accessible presidential elections in history. In our states, Arizona
and Michigan, and across the country, more citizens -- on both sides of
the aisle -- participated than ever before, even amid a global pandemic
and all its uncertainty and challenges.
Yet while this truth is unequivocal, and the 2020 election results remain
abundantly clear and accurate, we've spent the last year battling
pervasive efforts to deceive the American people about that reality.
And it's a battle we are at risk of losing.
For a year we have relied on facts and demonstrated transparency with
hundreds of official, bipartisan and secure audits to validate our 2020
elections while defending our systems against sham election reviews
conducted by partisans lacking any expertise in election administration.
For a year we, along with countless other election officials, have faced
threats -- to our lives, our staff, our families -- for simply doing our
jobs and protecting the voice of our voters.
For a year we've sought consequences and accountability for those who have
lied and threatened democracy, from the lawyers who have abused authority,
filing frivolous lawsuits lacking any evidence of wrongdoing, to the
leaders who enabled and supported the tragedy in our United States Capitol
on January 6.
And now, what the last several months and the results of this week's
elections around the country make clear is that we are no closer to
ensuring the truth prevails over lies than we were last November.
Now more than ever, elected leaders are gaining power in deception,
promoting policies that make it harder for all citizens to vote, cutting
election funding and empowering partisan officials to block or overturn
future lawful election results. Political candidates who don't believe in
democracy are finding celebrity and popularity in spreading lies, with
candidates for governor, attorney general and secretary of states in our
states and several others proudly repeating and running on conspiracy
theories born out of the 2020 elections.
Democracy prevailed in 2020 against an unprecedented attempt to lie and
deceive because good people on both sides of the aisle did the right
thing, followed the law, and protected the will of the voters.
Our judiciary enforced the Constitution against dozens of evidence-less
claims of election fraud and wrongdoing. Election officials held the line
and refused calls to taint election results while members of Congress
stood firm on January 6 to ensure the voice of the American people carried
the day.
But there is another reason our democracy prevailed in 2020: Americans
demanded it throughout the election cycle. They voted in record numbers,
signed up to serve as election workers, and rejected politicians who lied
to them. They embraced the ability to vote absentee and use secure drop
boxes to return their ballots, even as the former president and his
enablers rallied against the practice with misinformation and
fearmongering. And local election officials worked with community leaders
to empower all citizens with accurate, trusted information to wade through
a storm of disinformation aimed at limiting their vote and their voice.
That's why we believe the path out of this moment is found in the success
of 2020.
We need to spend the next year working, as we did in 2020, in the months
leading up to the midterm election building a multiracial, bipartisan
coalition of people in every industry, every community, every state,
dedicated to telling the truth to the American people -- about their
voice, their vote, and their democracy. We need everyone and anyone to get
off the sidelines and get to work defending democracy and rejecting those
trying to dismantle it or be prepared to accept a country where leaders
who are not accountable to the voters have free rein to exert their will
over all of ours.
Those against democracy have spent this year showing us there may be no
"bottom" to how far they will go to lie, deceive, and interfere with the
will of the voters.
It's time we believe them, and get to work spending every day of this next
year working to make telling the truth and protecting democracy a
paramount focus of our time.
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elect Democratic, pro-voter Secretaries of State in 2022.
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-- The PCCC Team ([ [link removed] ]@BoldProgressive)
Paid for by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee PAC (www.BoldProgressives.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Contributions to the PCCC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.Have you moved? Want to update your email address? Click below.
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