never been quiet in two years

• Lucas Waagmeester

  Correspondent from the United States

Will American Democracy Survive? Once again, that question haunts the minds of millions of Americans as they head to the polls next week. Will there be such a fierce battle over the results of these mid-term elections as in 2020? And can this result become a prelude to serious problems in 2024 if a new president is to be elected?

A long list of Republican candidates continued to repeat the lies about election fraud during this campaign. They run for governor and other positions in the states, or for seats in Congress in Washington. They aren’t just gearing up for another battle over next week’s results. If they rise to power, they will also play a key role in determining the outcome of the presidential election in two years’ time.

The Web site 538 carried map where in the country these candidates are suitable. The result did not bode well. About 60 percent of American voters will see at least one next week electoral denier to the ballot; a candidate who continued to deny the 2020 result.

In Arizona, the focal point of a fierce battle for results in 2020, all major Republican candidates are questioning the election. They want to be governor, supreme attorney or Secretary of State; the highest ranking official in a state. If elected, they will form the team that will be responsible for the proper conduct of the 2024 elections. Former President Trump supports their candidacy.

“Fake news lying on behalf of Joe Biden, “shouts Kari Lake from the stage at Dillon’s Western Trails Ranch, a diner half an hour’s drive from Phoenix. Lake is a former host of local Fox 10 television station. Everyone in Arizona knew her when ran for governor of the state last year and is now a rising star in the MAGA movement, the bulk of the Republican party that supports Trump.

“The truth is, Joe Biden didn’t win the election,” Lake repeats everywhere he campaigns, “and if you think he did, then you’re the conspiracy theorist.”

At the Maricopa County Election Office, which includes Phoenix, they are having a hard time. The first ballots are already running through the voting computers, from votes sent by post or mobile list box they have been released. “I can’t believe we’re arguing again,” sighs Bill Gates, chairman of the election commission. “People just listen to the misinformation that there is some sort of conspiracy going on in this office.”

Behind the electoral office tables, committees of Democrats and Republicans sit together to check the ballots. Journalists are watching from behind glass. Elections have rarely been scrutinized as closely as in Maricopa County, Gates says.

Maricopa’s election office made headlines around the world in 2020 when it was besieged by Trump supporters in the weeks following the presidential election. “The leaders of the alt right, the far right, were out here shouting that we had to stop counting votes,” Gates said. Things have never really calmed down in the past couple of years, with Republican activist groups filing lawsuits and continuing to demand recounts.

In the run up to next week, additional fences have been placed around the office. Much of it is still covered with opaque canvas. “They take pictures of our volunteers and photograph their license plates. It’s very intimidating,” says Gates. “Even the security to enter is much stronger, we have to protect our people.”

“The past predicts the future, obviously it could happen again,” said Rusty Bowers, an Arizona Republican Party veteran. He presided over the faction in parliament here and after the 2020 election he was asked by President Trump to help reverse the outcome in Arizona. Bowers refused and was subsequently silenced by the party.

“For these people, harassment and deception are standard methods,” Bowers says in his backyard outside Phoenix. According to Bowers, a problem arises if Republicans change positions as governor, prosecutor and Secretary of State get all three next week. “This is the worst case scenario.”

So they can block the legitimate result of the 2024 presidential election. Bowers: “They tried it before, now they’ll do it again. This is their playbook now if they lose. They even said it: if we lose this time, we’ll fight it. So when they all get together later. ” deciding to do the wrong thing, that’s a problem. “