Laundering Federal Election Interference in the Midterms
14 hours ago
- The Department of Homeland Security has warned about Chinese-made components in U.S. voting machines, though no evidence of vote manipulation has been found.
- The administration is using this vulnerability to justify potential interference in midterm elections, including demanding audits and threatening investigations.
- Federal actions include tying grants to state compliance with hand-counts and citizenship checks, which could suppress turnout and create confusion.
- The playbook involves four steps: establishing a predicate of threat, increasing voting friction, cementing a narrative of fraud, and delegitimizing unfavorable results.
- Defenses suggested include filling the federal vacuum with civil society support, documenting federal pressure, prepositioning lawyers, and rapid litigation against last-minute changes.
- The goal is to prepare the public to accept any election outcome as potentially tainted, undermining trust in democratic processes.