Fueled by the false narrative that widespread fraud stole the 2020 election from Trump, election officials nationwide have been under constant attack from election conspiracists.
Now, many of those conspiracists are seeking control of elections offices, asking for votes while telling those same people their votes may not count.
The trend, both locally and nationally, threatens to undermine trust in the elections process, said Cornell Clayton, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University.
“The central concern about having these types of individuals hold elective office like county auditors is that they will perpetuate the view that our elections aren’t fair, that they’re not transparent, that they’re being rigged and you shouldn’t trust them,” Clayon said. “Democracies can’t survive when that belief takes hold in a society.”