Voting is the best answer to voter intimidation, election disruption, and sabotage. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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There’s only one message today: get out and vote.

Here’s the good news: more than half of all Americans who will vote in this midterm election have already cast their ballots. Overwhelmingly, they have done so without incident. It has been calm and safe, just like any other year. There have been a handful of exceptions — most visibly, armed men stalking some drop boxes in Arizona. But they were blocked by a federal court. As its ruling reinforced, it is illegal to harass voters or election workers

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. Law enforcement this year has finally begun to step up to ensure safety.

But even though voters so far are experiencing a calm and normal election process, we all know it is anything but normal.

This is the first election in American history in which political leaders are pushing conspiracy theories and lies about democracy itself. It’s no coincidence that the harassment occurred in Arizona, where prominent election deniers are running for senator, governor, and secretary of state. Michigan is having similar problems. Election deniers are on the ballot for governor and attorney general, while a group is signing up vigilante volunteers to install hidden cameras at ballot drop boxes and carry weapons in anticipation of trouble. There is a straight line between election denial and voter intimidation.

If you experience any form of voter intimidation, you should alert poll workers, local election officials, and the Election Protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE. If you are a poll worker and you experience threats or intimidation, call law enforcement. Police departments across the country are coordinating with election officials to ensure that the 2022 election is safe.

And while the voting process so far has been secure, we know that after the voting is over, the process of counting and certifying results may be the subject of conspiracy theories, violent threats, and disinformation, as it was in 2020. If these election deniers lose fair and square, will they ever accept the results? Their refusal would itself be a challenge to the norms of our democracy.

Our elections are secure. They are trustworthy. And our polling places are safe. Millions of people have already cast their ballots. I urge you to join them. If you haven’t already, please vote.

The Big Donors Backing Election Denial Candidates

Voters are deciding whether to put election deniers in charge of election administration in several states

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. These candidates are on the ballot in part due to the contributions of megadonors who worked to overturn the 2020 election and are now trying to influence this year’s races. A new Brennan Center analysis finds that just seven sources are behind over $71 million backing election denial candidates across the country. These candidates are running for Congress and state offices, including positions that will play key roles in running or certifying races in 2024. Read more

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Slow Vote Counting Is No Accident

The slow pace of counting mail ballots in 2020 spurred false claims of rigged elections and threats of violence against election workers. But far from being a conspiracy or an accident, these delays are the result of a deliberate choice that lawmakers in key battleground states have made — with disastrous consequences for public trust in elections. “We will hear the same false claims after the 2022 election,” Lawrence Norden and Derek Tisler write, “and in every subsequent election until state legislatures fix the process.” READ MORE

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Groundwork for Potential False Claims About Election Results

Motivated by the lie of a “stolen” 2020 election, individuals in some states are engaging in their own deeply flawed investigations into voting. Their unreliable “evidence” might be used to generate false claims about the midterm results. Our new resource identifies the pitfalls of three of these error-ridden practices and how they could be used to burden election workers, disenfranchise eligible voters, and fuel misinformation campaigns. READ MORE

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The Road Not Taken on Gerrymandering

Congress’s failure to pass anti-gerrymandering reforms earlier this year will have ripple effects in the 2022 battle for control of the House. Now at least six states have electoral maps that heavily favor the party that drew them. “Had the legislation passed, voters around the country would have had immediate access to powerful new tools to fight partisan gerrymandering,” Michael Li, Peter Miller, and Chris Leaverton write. “It’s a lesson that should be remembered the next time there is an opportunity to reform the map-drawing process.” READ MORE

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Secret Wars

The Pentagon has spent the past two decades using little-understood security cooperation programs to lead U.S. forces into unauthorized hostilities alongside foreign partners. As a result, both Congress and the public are left in the dark about the full extent of the country’s armed conflicts. It’s a state of affairs that’s both dangerous and undemocratic. A new Brennan Center report examines how we got here and what Congress can do to curb these secret wars. Read more

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Online Messaging in the Lead-Up to Election Day

Our latest analysis of election-related messaging on social media by political candidates and news organizations found that posts about fraud increased as the election neared, particularly by secretary of state candidates. Additionally, we found differences in online conversations in English versus Spanish, including which candidates tended to post in each language and what topics they discussed. READ MORE

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Coming Up

VIRTUAL EVENT: The Midterms: What Happened — and Where Do We Go From Here?

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Wednesday, November 9, 3–4 p.m. ET

Join us the day after the 2022 midterm elections for a discussion with Democratic strategist and former Obama adviser David Plouffe, prominent Republican strategist Rob Jesmer, NBC News political analyst Elise Jordan, and moderator Sewell Chan of the Texas Tribune. They will unpack results that may impact voting rights, women’s rights, and democracy itself. RSVP today

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NEW YORK EVENT: Change from Within: A New Vision for the 21st Century Prosecutor
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Monday, November 14, 12:30–2 p.m. ET

A new group of elected prosecutors is using the power of their offices to work against the traditional harsh punishments that have become synonymous with the criminal justice system. Join us for a live discussion about their efforts and the book Change from Within: A New Vision for the 21st Century Prosecutor. This in-person discussion features State’s Attorney Sarah George of Chittenden County, Vermont; District Attorney Eric Gonzalez of Brooklyn; and Executive Director Miriam Aroni Krinsky of Fair and Just Prosecution. The moderator is NYU Law Professor Rachel Barkow. RSVP today
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Produced in partnership with NYU Law’s Peter L. Zimroth Center on the Administration of Criminal Law and Fair and Just Prosecution

Want to keep up with Brennan Center Live events? Subscribe to the events newsletter.
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News

Liz Howard on the Justice Department’s task force investigating threats to election officials // ABC
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Douglas Keith on high spending in state supreme court races // NEW YORK TIMES
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Sean Morales-Doyle on laws against voter intimidation // NPR
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Lawrence Norden on the retention of election officials // STATELINE
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Wendy Weiser on recent court rulings affecting voting in swing states // WNYC
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