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In the last two years, a flood of voter suppression laws have been passed that disproportionately impact communities of color and chip away at democracy. Voter ID laws, registration requirements, limitations on voting times and voter roll purges all keep mostly Black and Brown voters from the polls. But, despite the targeted difficulties and health dangers facing them, voters turned out in November 2020 to exercise their constitutional rights. 2020 saw the highest turnout of voters of color in any American election, but when voters of color would not be deterred from voting, politicians and domestic terrorists attempted to invalidate their votes through the spread of mis- and disinformation and violence. 

On this episode of Justice Above All, the Thurgood Marshall Institute unpacks how election sabotage invaded the 2020 electoral process and culminated in the violent attack on the Capitol. We’re joined by Christina Das (Legal Defense Fund) and Secretary Tahesha Way (New Jersey Secretary of State). 

Election Sabotage and the Threat to Election Administrators

Election administrators are the frontline workers of our democracy. Without them, essential electoral functions just don’t happen. Election sabotage has made election workers the targets of violence and legislative attempts to steal power over elections. Some of these efforts include empowering legislatures to choose and control administrators and criminalizing routine steps election officials take to conduct elections. 

Via Protect Democracy, “A Democracy Crisis in the Making” (2022) 
A Georgia election worker testifies before the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack about the hate she faced due to the disinformation spread during the 2020 election. 

Protect Democracy

A Democracy Crisis in the Making

A report from Protect Democracy documents the risk and threats posed to election administrators as legislatures across the country attempt to seize power from professional, non-partisan election administrators and hand it over to partisan influence. 

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