The rapid rise of Vice President Kamala Harris has calmed her party’s greatest fear about 2024. She could attract enough votes to beat Donald Trump.
But that, in turn, has elevated another fear lurking in the shadows long before President Joe Biden abandoned his quest for re-election this summer. If Harris attracts enough votes to win, can she get them accurately counted and certified?
For most of modern US history, that question would have never been asked. But the behavior of Trump and Republican allies after the 2020 election, culminating in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection, has made it a clear and present danger ever since.
Democracy advocates express cautious optimism that they can fend off the threat as they did four years ago. But once more, they’ll have to prove it.
“There is no doubt,” says Jess Marsden, a lawyer with the non-partisan group Protect Democracy, “that Republican Party activists are going to use the court system to try to bring about President Trump’s return to power.” ….more
