In many states, election-denying candidates are running to control voting
Election Skeptics Seek Election Offices. Democracy Has Survived This Tension Before.
What Happened
Across multiple U.S. states, candidates who have publicly questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election are running for positions that oversee elections — secretary of state, election board members, and similar roles. These positions carry real authority over how ballots are counted, certified, and administered at the state level.
Historical Context
This is not historically unprecedented. The United States has seen contested election administration throughout its history. In the post-Reconstruction era (1870s–1900s), Southern states deliberately installed officials who systematically disenfranchised voters — a far more severe erosion than what is currently proposed. During the 1876 Hayes-Tilden election, competing electoral slates were submitted by multiple states, and the outcome was resolved by a congressional commission. Election administration in the U.S. has always been decentralized and contested — there are over 10,000 separate election jurisdictions in the country, with overlapping federal, state, and local checks. Secretaries of state who attempted to influence the 2020 result — including in Georgia — ultimately certified results anyway, under legal and institutional pressure. Courts rejected over 60 post-2020 election lawsuits. The system has multiple redundant layers.
What's In Your Control
Whether you are registered to vote. Whether you vote in state and local races — where these offices are actually decided. Whether you research candidates for secretary of state and election board races in your state, which most voters ignore. Whether you volunteer as a poll worker or election observer, the most direct form of participation in electoral integrity.
Does This Require Action?
This is one of the rare political stories that warrants genuine attention — not panic, but engagement. If you live in a state with a competitive secretary of state or election board race, this is worth knowing about before you vote. Local and state elections are where this actually gets decided. Channel concern into participation, not outrage.
Source: NPR
