The Republican's Plans to Steal Elections

As a passionate proponent of democracy, I have to use the small platform that I possess to sound the alarm bells. As we all know, the GOP didn’t handle its election losses very well in 2020.

Former president, Donald J. Trump still contends that he won the election, and that massive voter fraud was at play, even though his claim has been litigated over 50 times in court and thoroughly debunked by election experts.

Even Trump’s administration called the 2020 Election the most secure election in U.S. history. Despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary, there are still millions of Americans, and most Republican politicians, who continue to purport the “Big Lie.”

Republican candidates have found that to be in Trump’s good graces, they must perpetuate the lie that the 2020 Election was stolen by President Joe Biden and the Democrats. All across the country, supporters of the “Big Lie” ran in and won Republican primaries based on who could be the Trumpiest.

Take J.D. Vance, millionaire author of Hillbilly Elegy, running against Rep. Tim Ryan for a Senate seat in Ohio. During the 2016 Election, Vance called himself a Never Trumper and in messages to a former roommate, he wrote that Trump could be “America’s Hitler.”

In 2022, Mr. Vance has done a 180-degree turn, hedging his bets that the Republican base won’t remember his anti-Trump rhetoric. Vance was endorsed by Trump, giving him a clear advantage over his opponent, former state treasurer, Josh Mandel.

Knowing how the Republicans acted in 2020, it is blatantly clear that they are currently working behind the scenes to ensure that the next election brings a victory…no matter what.

We just found out from leaked tapes given to Politico that the Republican National Committee (RNC) is working on a multi-faceted plan to possibly overturn votes in heavily Democratic precincts. They plan to plant MAGA-loyal poll workers in Democratic strongholds and put them in touch with party lawyers that can assist them if and when they contest votes during Election Day.

The Republican National Committee is training poll workers all over the country so that Trump loyalists are on every level of government and election security. They will also utilize a website for these poll workers to be connected to party election lawyers who will be able to walk them through any issues that arise.

They also plan to work with MAGA-friendly District Attorneys who could potentially block vote counts in certain precincts. According to Matthew Seifried, the RNC’s election integrity director from Michigan, on the leaked tapes, “Being a poll worker, you just have so many more rights and things you can do to stop something than [as] a poll challenger.”

The entire scheme is being explained away by the RNC as leveling the playing field and addressing party imbalances in poll workers in urban areas, such as Detroit. But the true intent is more likely to muddy the waters involving election security in largely Democratic and urban areas so that Republicans have an easier time contesting votes they don’t like during the next few elections.

The end goal is to have massive chaos on Election Day, prevent the certification of the elections in different counties and precincts, and have the state legislature choose the electors that are sent to the Electoral College. That way if Republicans are losing, they can have Republican-majority legislatures personally select electors that match their party affiliation.

In 2022, Democrats control 17 legislatures and Republicans control 30 legislatures across the country.

This plan is very similar to Steve Bannon’s (former aid to Donald Trump when he was in the White House) “precinct strategy.” The GOP is going out of its way to seep into the legal system around elections. They’re trying to codify Donald Trump’s election lies.

It is unprecedented in American history that a political party would go so far out of its way to profoundly affect the basic structure of elections and how we choose our lawmakers in this nation.

I cannot stress enough that this is not a partisan piece. This is no longer about Democrats vs. Republicans, although for full disclosure, I will admit that I am a life-long Democrat. This fight is about democracy vs. authoritarianism.

Look at the tweet below from former Republican Congressman, Joe Walsh, responding to former presidential candidate, Andrew Yang’s, assertion that the two-party system is more likely to lead us to Civil War.

I’m an ardent fan of Joe Walsh since he left the Republican Party. He came into Congress during the Tea Party wave during the Obama Administration midterms. Walsh was one of the most infamous trolls, perpetuating the debunked Birther conspiracy theory started by Donald Trump and he voted for Trump in 2016 before he realized how dangerous he was to democracy.

Walsh and I don’t agree on much, but he’s become a common-sense conservative who loves his country. If democracy lovers in both parties would unite for the sake of the nation, we would be an indestructible force for good.

I love living in a democratic society and I cherish the rights afforded to me and my neighbors in America. If you love democracy, you will take this seriously and find out what you can do to help in your area.

I live in Pennsylvania, one of the highly coveted swing states. In 2020, we had a Democratic Governor, Tom Wolf, and a Democratic-appointed Secretary of State who protected our votes from the Republican-led legislature that wanted to throw out all of our votes and let them choose the electors.

This year, we are having a new election for governor. On the Republican side, the “Big Lie” supporting, anti-democratic, insurrection-attending troll, state Senator Doug Mastriano, will be on the ballot. Among his other non-election-related crazy policies, Mastriano has come out for ending mail-in voting and he wants to completely throw out the voting rolls and make every adult in Pennsylvania re-register if they want to vote again.

Forcing the population to re-register reeks of former racist policies in which white people attempted to prevent black people and immigrants from voting. It also conflicts with federal and state law and maybe even Constitutional protections.

I don’t want this power-hungry, Trump-loving, authoritarian taking over one of the most electorally important states in the country. As Pennsylvania is one of the few states where the Secretary of State is appointed, Mastriano and his Trump-loyalist cohorts would have complete control of our commonwealth’s elections.

That said, I’m going to be working to get current PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro elected as Governor in November. I know he will play fair and keep the integrity of our elections unscathed. If we lose in November due to not getting enough votes, I can accept that. But I will not stand by and watch the anti-democratic GOP steal an election like they tried to in 2020.

One last thing…a few months ago, I was watching one of my favorite shows, Real Time with Bill Maher. At the end of his show, he does a segment called “New Rules” in which he does a deep dive on a current political hot button issue. There was one segment that he did that shook me to my core. It’s called “Slow Moving Coup.”

If you felt anything about what I wrote in this article, I implore you to go watch this 8-minute video. Maher did a great job of explaining what is happening and what is at stake.

Freedom isn’t always free. If we want to keep our democratic society intact, we must fight as we’ve never fought before. If you’ve never voted before, you might want to consider making 2022 your first because our very way of life is at stake. Just remember, there are two teams to choose from and only one believes in democratic norms. I know which team I’m choosing. Do you?

Initially published on Medium on June 10, 2022