Voter Suppression Hall of Shame

Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for Governor, said she would not have certified Joe Biden’s election and has refused to say whether she would honor the result of her election if she loses.

As governor, she would have tremendous power to change the way elections are administered and could sabotage the results. Specifically:

• The governor must review and approve the Election Procedures Manual that lays out how state elections are funded. She could refuse to approve a voter handbook unless the Secretary of State includes certain language or restrictions, creating more chaos and confusion. If the handbook does not align with Arizona law, it could also be challenged in court leading to more chaos and confusion.
• As governor she could approve restrictive voter legislation or veto legislation that would increase access to the ballot.
• The governor is able to appoint judges out of a pool from the Arizona Judicial Nominating Commission and could choose to appoint judges that are the most hostile to voting rights and democracy.

Attorney General candidate Abraham Hamadeh said the 2020 election was “rigged” and people “worked to rob” Donald Trump.

• As Attorney General, he would have exclusive authority to defend the state against election related lawsuits and could defend unconstitutional voting laws passed by the legislature (Right now, this exclusive power lasts just until 2023, due to a law passed by Republicans to strip Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbes from such authority. This could change, depending on the outcome of that race this year.)
• Like the governor, the Attorney General is able to review and approve the Election Procedures Manual, which means he could add new language to restrict ballot access based on any number of election conspiracy theories.

Mark Finchem said if he were in office in 2020, “We would have won. Plain and simple,” and said if he loses his own race, there “ain’t gonna be no concession speech coming from this guy.” He opposes early voting, wants to sharply restrict mail-in voting, and cosponsored a bill that would’ve given the state’s legislature the authority to overturn elections.

As Secretary of State:

• He would be in charge of certifying election results and may refuse to do so if the Republican presidential nominee doesn’t win in 2024, leading to a constitutional crisis that could disenfranchise millions of voters.
• He could also refuse to certify voting devices, muddy the candidate certification process, and undermine the ballot initiative process.
• The Secretary of State writes the Elections Practices Manual and Finchem “has pledged to rewrite those rules,” which means he could create new rules for voter registrations, mail ballots, and more procedures that put onerous and arbitrary new restrictions on voting.
• He oversees the certification of election officers and provides election officer training, meaning he could refuse to certify certain election officers, making local election administration more partisan.

Michigan Republican candidate for Governor Tudor Dixon has falsely claimed Donald Trump won the 2020 election and has refused to commit to accepting the results of the 2022 election if she loses.

As governor, she would have tremendous power to change the way elections are administered and sabotage the results. Specifically:

Republican candidate for Attorney General Matthew DePerno has falsely claimed Michigan voting machines were rigged, repeatedly and falsely stated that Trump won the 2020 election, and is now under criminal investigation regarding his alleged participation in an effort to tamper with voting tabulator machines following the 2020 election.

DePerno is a corrupt attorney and bizarre conspiracy theorist who has already threatened to investigate the current Attorney General for any number of baseless claims that could do great damage to the state’s democracy if elected. Specifically:

• As the state’s top law enforcement official, he would have the power to position and represent the state in support of restrictive or unconstitutional voting laws and challenges to election results and certification.
• The Attorney General has the power to investigate alleged violations of election law and with DePerno’s history of making baseless claims of election fraud and threatening to persecute his political opponents, there is little doubt that he would attempt to use the powers of his official position to do the same and undermine Michigan’s elections and democracy.

Kristina Karamo is a fringe conspiracy theorist who believes “Donald Trump won Michigan” in 2020, tried to overturn President Biden’s election at the Supreme Court, and has regularly made false claims about voter fraud.

If she were to win, Karamo would have incredible power to alter election rules and administration.

• As the state’s “chief election officer,” the Secretary of State has supervisory control over local election officials in the performance of their election related duties and investigates election law violations. Karamo could improperly influence the performance of election officials and their training to make administration more partisan.
• Karamo could use the office to investigate Democrats or other opponents for purported election law violations.
• While Karamo wouldn’t certify the election, she would be involved in crafting the certification process, which could lead to mechanisms that undermine democracy.
• Karamo could use her power to administer election laws and dispute resolution to target Democratic voters, make it harder for Michiganders to vote, and create an unfair system to address election related disputes.

Republican candidate for governor Joe Lombardo has played footsie with “Big Lie” voter fraud conspiracy theories and pledged to end popular, safe, and secure voting practices such as vote by mail.

As Governor, Lombardo could dramatically curtail voting rights in a state that has worked hard to expand access to the ballot in recent years. Specifically, if Lombardo were governor, he could veto any expansive voting bills or pro-democracy bills, as well as sign any anti-democracy legislation if Republicans were to take power in the legislature.

Republican Attorney General candidate Sigal Chattah has made dangerous, evidence-free claims of voter fraud and has led legal challenges to restrict voting access.

As the state’s top law enforcement officer, the Attorney General is able to investigate and prosecute crimes like combating fraud and corruption and protecting voting rights. Based on her past statements, it’s likely that Chattah would launch unnecessary or baseles investigations to undermine the public’s faith in elections and push for new voting restrictions.

Nevada Republican Secretary of State candidate Joe Marchant is a Big Lie conspiracy theorist who has stated that he would not have certified the 2020 election and said, “President Trump and I lost an election in 2020 because of a rigged election…When my coalition of secretary of state candidates get elected, we’re gonna fix the whole country and President Trump is going to be president again in 2024.”

The Secretary of State has a key role in administering the state’s election and Marchant could do major damage to ballot access in the state. Specifically:

• The Secretary of State supervises state and local elections, including being responsible for the execution, interpretation, and enforcement of federal election and state election and campaign finance laws. Marchant will undoubtedly push for election administration and security practices that restrict voter access to the rolls and ballot box.
• The Secretary of State certifies statewide candidates, ballot questions, and election results. If Marchant’s preferred candidates don’t win in 2024, it’s likely he would refuse to certify those elections leading to creating a potential constitutional crisis in the state.

Republican candidate for governor Doug Mastriano is a dangerous conspiracy theorist who has already used his power as a legislator to spread election conspiracy theories and was a key figure in Pennsylvania’s “Stop the Steal” movement to overturn President Biden’s victory.

As governor in a key battleground state, Mastriano could wreak havoc on the 2024 presidential election. Specifically:

• In Pennsylvania, the governor appoints the Secretary of the Commonwealth, who is the state’s chief elections official. Mastriano has already signaled he has a pick in mind who is “a voting-reform-minded individual,” which all but ensures it will be someone who shares his extreme views and fringe theories around election administration, security, and certification. This individual would have incredible power to implement practices like improper voter purges, election recounts, and decertification of certain voting machines and election results.
• The governor signs the ascertainment for the slate of the state’s presidential and vice presidential electors. Mastriano already tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election and there’s every reason to believe he’ll do so as governor if his preferred Republican candidate does not win in 2024.
• Over the last 8 years, Governor Wolf has served as a check on bad voting laws passed by the Republican legislature. If Mastriano were governor, he would almost certainly sign restrictive voting measures and others aimed at subverting the electoral process.

Republican candidate for governor Tim Michels refuses to say the 2020 election wasn’t stolen, falsely claims “decertifying” the election is an option if he’s elected governor, and won’t commit to accepting the results of his election if he loses.

As governor, this election denier would have a major role in our elections and ballot access. Specifically:

• The governor certifies election results for U.S. Senate elections and presidential electors. Based on his previous comments, he could attempt to decertify or delay certification of election results to defy the will of Wisconsin voters.
• He appoints 2 of the 6 members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission (confirmed by state Senate), giving him the opportunity to appoint members who share and support extreme views around election and voting policies and practices, and are able to push the Commission in that direction. Michels has also said he wants to eliminate this commission altogether.
• Over the last four years, Governor Evers has served as a check on bad voting laws passed by the Republican legislature. If Michels were governor, he would almost certainly sign such bad bills passed by the legislature and could also veto any laws that increase access to the ballot that are passed by the legislature.
• The governor makes appointments to fill any vacancy on the Wisconsin Supreme Court or any Court of Record, and he would likely stack the courts with justices who share and support his extreme views around election and voting policies and practices.

Republican Attorney General candidate Eric Toney has claimed to be the “most aggressive prosecutors of election fraud” and has criticized the Wisconsin Election Commission Board for actions taken during the 2020 election to expand and protect ballot access during a once-in-a-generation global pandemic.

As the state’s top law enforcement official, the Attorney General has broad powers to protect the state’s election laws. Specifically:

• The Attorney General represents the state in all election related cases. If elected, Toney would have the power to position and represent the state in support of restrictive voting laws, improper voter purges, sham election audits, false theories around voter fraud, and challenges to election results and certification.
• The Attorney General is also able to prove their opinion in writing on questions of law submitted by the legislature. If elected, Toney, would be able to provide the legislature opinions to offer cover and support for legislation restricting the right to vote, implementing improper voter purges, sham election audits, promoting false election conspiracy theories, and blocking election results and certification.

Amy Loudenbeck has been “vague” about whether or not President Biden won the 2020 election and wants to transfer powers from the bipartisan election commission to the Secretary of State’s office.

In Wisconsin the chief election officer is currently appointed by the election commission and confirmed by the Wisconsin Senate, so as it stands, the Secretary of State has little role over elections. However, if Loudenbeck were to get her wish and have oversight over elections transferred to her, she would have control over a wide range of functions related to statewide election administration, including being able to implement aggressive voter purges and have the power to refuse to certify election results.

While the power to administer elections and certify election results lies with state officials, Congress also plays a significant role in certifying the electors for the presidential election.

In 2020, 147 Republican members of the House and Senate–half the caucus–voted to reject electors without any evidence of widespread fraud, even after violent insurrectionists attacked the U.S. Capitol with the same goal in mind.

The 118th Congress will likely see a similar number of deniers. According to the Washington Post, “Among 419 Republican nominees for the U.S. House, 230, or 55 percent, are election deniers. And the vast majority of those, 147, are running in safe Republican districts, with another 29 in competitive races, according to ratings as of Oct. 5 by the Cook Political Report.”

These officials, working with election deniers in top battleground states in a close election, could at worst work together to overturn an election they don’t like or simply sow chaos and undermine the public’s faith in elections as a predicate to passing new legislation to restrict the right to vote and subvert our elections.