Conspiracy weary

It’s one week until Election Day, and today we’re highlighting another state facing an especially critical choice on Nov. 8. Michigan is one of a few states with a trio of election deniers running for the three offices with the most influence over certifying an election—governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. Candidates who deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election have claimed nearly two-thirds of Republican nominations for state and federal offices with authority over elections. Had those candidates held power in 2020, they would have been in a position to attempt something the current officeholders refused: overturning the vote and denying Joe Biden the presidency. Do you live in Michigan? Share your thoughts on the midterm races for publication in our next issue. —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

• Judge rejects Mark Meadows' challenge to House Jan. 6 panel subpoena —USA Today

• Supreme Court rejects Lindsey Graham’s request to block Georgia grand jury subpoena —CNN

• Chief Justice Roberts temporarily blocks release of Trump's tax records to House Democrats —NBC News

• Prosecutors accuse Trump Organization of ‘greed and cheating’ in tax fraud trial —The Guardian

• Bolsonaro supporters protest across Brazil after election —The New York Times

Authorities warn of potential violence 

Just in time for the midterm elections, which are now a week away, U.S. law enforcement has circulated bulletins warning that conspiracy theorists could become violent around Nov. 8. One of the bulletins, issued last Friday by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the National Counterterrorism Center, warned about domestic violent extremism, or DVE, related to “election-related perceptions of fraud” and “reactions to divisive topics.”

• “The most plausible DVE threat is posed by lone offenders who leverage election-related issues to justify violence,” the bulletin said. Though it warned of potential extremists from “across the ideological spectrum,” it stressed the likelihood that violence would come from people who believed in election fraud, which has remained a major issue despite repeated debunkings of all major claims. A recent NBC poll found that two-thirds of Republicans still don’t believe in the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

• Another bulletin issued last Wednesday by the New York Police Department’s Intelligence Bureau cited multiple examples of violent claims on social networks favored by conspiracy theorists. “From mid-September to early October, users across extreme-right, ultranationalist, and QAnon extremist forums called for adherents to become ‘poll challengers’ and encouraged violence, intimidation tactics, and the sabotage of voting machines, if they believed they witnessed ‘fraud’ and ‘cheating’ at the polls,” the NYPD bulletin said. —NBC News

MORE: Just days after taking over Twitter, Elon Musk shares conspiracy theory about Paul Pelosi —NPR

Whitman, Willner & Yang: Election denial is hurting us all

“Election denialism is nothing new, but it's gone mainstream. In particular, on the American right, 61% of Republicans believe that the 2020 presidential election result was fraudulent. Public officials and candidates, despite all evidence to the contrary, promote and normalize that lie, making it accepted as gospel among millions of Americans. … Lies about our election come at a steep cost. They destroy confidence in our electoral systems, suppress voter participation, and as we've seen, lead to violence.” —Christine Todd Whitman, Michael Willner & Andrew Yang in Newsweek

Christine Todd Whitman, Michael Willner, and Andrew Yang are co-chairs of the new Forward Party.

MORE: Election conspiracist intended to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and ‘break her kneecaps,’ San Francisco DA says —CBS News

Center Street: Extremism thrives when left unchecked

“It shouldn’t surprise us that electing the ‘lesser of two evils’ over and over hasn’t left us in a good place. It’s left us vulnerable, even as extremists pull us further apart and convince us the ‘other side’ is our enemy. It must stop. We know how this goes. Violent rhetoric begets physical violence. Now is the moment to say enough, to part with those who go wrong and to stand with those who stand right.” —Center Street blog

MORE: Attack on Paul Pelosi becomes punch line for some Republicans —The Washington Post

Focus on Michigan

Gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon is something of a late bloomer. After emerging victorious from the Michigan Republican primary earlier this year, she seemed to disappear from voters’ sight. Recently, however, she’s made herself more visible, hoping to capitalize on GOP momentum fueled by voters’ concerns about the economy and inflation. But lest one think she’s just a spunky underdog against Democratic incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, think again. A far-right online news commentator, Dixon believes, incorrectly, that Donald Trump won Michigan in 2020, and she has refused to commit to accepting the results of the upcoming election. She has also accused Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson of “running an illegal election.” —Associated Press

• No surrender Benson. Benson, meanwhile, is fighting to retain her seat against Republican opponent Kristina Karamo (more on her in a moment). According to a new WDIV/Detroit News poll, Benson holds a healthy lead over election denier Karamo. The race for Michigan attorney general, on the other hand, looks like a squeaker. Democratic incumbent Dana Nessel is polling dead-even with GOP opponent Matt DePerno, who gained infamy for filing the 2020 lawsuit that kicked off the Dominion voting machine conspiracies and audit. —Click on Detroit

• Legitimate concerns or publicity stunt? Karamo has filed a lawsuit against Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey and the City of Detroit Board of Election Inspectors, alleging that illegal ballots are a widespread problem and the city is “plagued with election corruption.” Benson’s reaction? “My opponent is seeking to have valid votes thrown out and thousands of voices nullified based on nothing but lies. It’s egregious. It won’t succeed. Democracy will prevail,” she said. —Fox 2 Detroit

• In better news… According to a WDIV/Detroit News poll, a majority of Michigan voters (63.7%) support a voting rights proposal that would amend the state constitution to add provisions regarding elections. Some of the provisions include recognizing the fundamental right to vote without harassing conduct, allowing voters to use a single application to vote by absentee ballot in all elections, requiring state-funded absentee ballot drop boxes and postage for absentee applications and ballots, allowing only election officials to conduct post-election audits, and requiring nine days of early in-person voting. Stay tuned. —Click on Detroit

MORE: The Michigan race testing the limits of a GOP wave —Politico

Montgomery: How RCV lowers the temperature 

“To prevail, candidates must reach beyond their base to become the second and third choices of more voters. Bridge-builders are rewarded and will presumably bring that collaborative style to governing. The old electoral system ‘creates perverse incentives’ and ‘rewards bad behavior, meaning extremism, and punishes good behavior,’ says Scott Kendall, an Anchorage lawyer who has worked for Republican politicians in Alaska and who drafted the ballot measure that created the new system. With ranked-choice voting, says Rob Richie, president and co-founder of FairVote, ‘you would be electorally rewarded for doing what actually is good for the country, and that’s too often not the case right now.’” —David Montgomery in The Washington Post

David Montgomery is a staff writer for The Washington Post Magazine.

MORE: How ranked-choice voting made the Portland ballot —CBS News

King: The answer to extremism? Electoral reform

“[T]here is some reason for hope. Increasingly, in states that allow direct action by their citizens, ballot initiatives on electoral reforms are winning support. And recently, a federal court in Texas has ruled that requiring petitions to be collected on paper forms is unconstitutional. But the change will be slow until the rational middle of America stands up and says it has had enough of the extremism and demands change.” —Bill King on RealClearPolitics

Bill King is a businessman, lawyer, and former contributor at the Houston Chronicle. He has served as a city councilman and is the author of “Saving Face” and “Unapologetically Moderate.”

MORE: Voters don’t think either party deserves to govern —FiveThirtyEight

I seldom agree with Nancy Pelosi on anything, but the attack on her husband should not be tolerated by anyone, regardless of their political views. I hope the suspect gets the punishment befitting his crimes. —John C., Florida

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Renew America Foundation.