Shoring up democracy: Being as prepared as possible for what's coming

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (intended to restore and strengthen the gutted portions of the Voting Rights Act) and the Freedom to Vote Act (establishing a national minimum standard for how elections are conducted) are dead in the water. Meanwhile, Republican-led legislatures have been passing significant voting restrictions (with more states to follow in 2022), toying with and in some cases giving themselves the possibility to set aside election results. At the same time, Trump supporters have been extremely successful so far at taking over the positions that oversee elections at the local level (positions that have, in the past, been nonpartisan, and often hard to fill). Buying into the Big Lie has become a litmus test for Republican candidates across the country.

The appropriate response is not to despair but also not to rest on the assumption that simply getting out the vote and winning the elections will be enough. Not only do margins of victory need to be as large as possible; but we also need to be prepared for what happens in the likely event of contested results. (We also need to be prepared, of course, in the event that we outright lose.) We need new strategies now and not on election day or the day after. Joel Parthemore will lead a discussion focusing on what Trump supporters' success taking over the electoral machinery means and how we can prepare ourselves.