NEW REPORT: Watchdog Identifies Growing Threat To Democracy From Local Election Officials
Report Identifies 204 State and Local Officials, Finding Many Emboldened By Past Attacks On Elections
Informing Democracy—a nonpartisan, non-profit organization made up of election professionals, researchers, and lawyers—today released its inaugural report identifying more than 200 state and local election officials who exhibited anti-democratic tendencies or actions ahead of the 2022 elections.
In its new report, “Democracy Under Threat: A Spotlight on 204 Officials Who Could Undermine Our Elections,” Informing Democracy lays out how anti-democratic tendencies are rampant amongst the local officials responsible for administering elections and the state officials who write election law. In many cases, these officials are using their positions to act against and obstruct our elections and were emboldened by activity in 2020 and 2022.
Informing Democracy identified 204 current officials in six states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—who provoked concern due to anti-democratic tendencies or actions. These included people like state senator Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania and Cochise County Supervisor Peggy Judd in Arizona, who was ordered by a judge to certify her county’s results of the 2022 midterm elections after refusing to do so.
In total, Informing Democracy found:
94 local officials who provoke concerns about their anti-democratic bias who could be in office to administer the 2024 presidential election
110 current state legislators who demonstrated anti-democratic tendencies or actions, including 104 who won reelection largely unopposed
“This report shines a floodlight on the wave of state and local officials counting our ballots and writing our election laws who harbor anti-democratic tendencies—and it shows just how big a threat they pose to future elections,” said Jenna Lowenstein, Executive Director of Informing Democracy. “While the vast majority of elections are well organized and well run by dedicated public servants, it’s critical that the public and the press see how this poisonous, anti-democratic trend is spreading across the country. This encyclopedia of election deniers is a warning and a must-use resource for those seeking to hold officials accountable for their previous attacks on our democracy and for those defending it from future threats.”
You can read the full report into who could threaten elections in 2023 and 2024 here.