Cronkite school of journalism at
Arizona state university.
>> With election day three days
away, a new poll from the
Washington post and ABC find
nearly nine in 10 Americans are
worried about an increased
danger of politically motivated
violence.
Election officials in Michigan
are especially worried as the
midterms approach and as
multiple election deniers are on
the ballot.
More upper room Lopez was in the
state and has this.
>> There is no way for this to
be tampered with?
>> For nearly today kids, Cheryl
has loved running elections.
>> Election day, you feel you
are doing a service for the
people.
>> This election cycle is
different.
A Detroit Michigan suburb.
>> I've never had this level of
anxiety, as far as making sure
that everybody is safe,
including myself and my staff
and workers.
>> After January 6, the
continued spread of lies about
the 2020 presidential election
and threats against election
workers has her worried about
the escalation of violence ahead
of the midterms.
>> I now have a camera system at
my home I did not have before,
because you have to take the
threats serious.
>> Up and down the ballot,
Republicans have either outright
denied president Biden won in
2020, or cast repeated doubt on
the results.
>> So is distrust into the
system.
The corner marker of our
democracy is to have a free and
fair election, people don't
believe that, and it is a real
threat.
>> The closest statewide race is
between a Democrat and a
Republican.
Polling this week has the race
at a statistical dead heat.
Former president trump endorsed
the Republican to Burnell, who
repeated his lies about a rigged
2020 election, and his campaign.
He's under investigation for
allegedly plotting to seize and
tamper with voting machines from
that election.
He denied the allegations.
On your campaign website, you
say "When I'm elected, I will
keep my word to prosecute the
people who corrupted the 2020
election and allowed fraud to
permeate the entire system."
What evidence of fraud you have?
>> There's a lot of evidence of
fraud, tons of evidence we have
seen since November of 2020.
Even in the lawsuit I filed, we
proved two things.
Number one, how corruptible our
system is, how vulnerable our
election system is to fraud, and
how fraud actually occurred.
>> Cases have been dismissed by
trump appointed judges.
Do you think there is some big
conspiracy among judges to
defraud the American public?
>> No, I think you are doing
what many reporters are doing,
--
which is garbage reporting.
What you are doing is not
accurately reporting what
happened.
What happened in many of these
lawsuits, and my lawsuits, was
they were dismissed on
procedural grounds.
No one ever looked at the actual
evidence.
>> His lawsuit seeking new
audits and alleging fraud have
them thrown out by Michigan
judges based on procedural
grounds and lack of evidence.
In April of this year, a
three-judge panel rejected a
appeal ruling "The plaintiff
merely raised a series of
questions about the election
without making any specific
factual allegations as
required."
Michigan's republican-controlled
senate also reported no evidence
of widespread fraud.
His opponent, attorney general
Dana Nessel, says democracy is
at stake.
What does this race boil down
to?
>> It is everything.
Most importantly, whether or not
we remain a democracy.
It never occurred to me in a
million years I would have to
defend an election where one
person beat the other person by
154 thousand votes and come so
close to not having the election
properly certified in our state
because of so many different
means of trying to disrupt the
process.
>> She also said she's fearful
for her own safety after
receiving threats against her
and her family.
A pbs newshour mpr poll found
preserving democracy was the
main issue for democratic
voters.
Including some at a democratic
campaign event.
>> It is devastating to think
there are people out there still
spreading disinformation and
lies that poll workers are
frightened to go to work, and
there has been this inability to
accept reality.
>> The same poll found the
biggest motivator for Republican
voters is inflation and the
economy.
We spoke with voters at a
Republican campaign event at an
American legion.
>> The most important thing for
me is the price of fuel and
crime.
It is out of control.
>> It has been proven over and
over.
How many election fraud cases
have we had in Michigan that
have came out this last six
months that they have been found
guilty of it?
It is all over the board.
>> Despite an increase in
political violence on the right,
he continued to spread election
lies about the 2020 presidential
race.
Michigan is home to a number of
white militias and has a history
of political violence, including
at the state capital.
Three more members of the far
right extremist group wolverine
watchman were convicted of
aiding a 2020 plot to kidnap
democratic governor Gretchen
Whitmer.
Earlier, armed protesters
flooded the Michigan capital in
opposition to statewide
covid-19.
>> Michigan in particular is
vulnerable to the potential for
postelection violence because
there is a legacy there.
>> He tracks domestic extremism
at the nonpartisan center.
>> This is a state that is known
to have a number of heavily
armed militias.
And the big lie continues.
Election deniers on the ballot
who found success in using that
to further their campaign.
That is a bit of a lethal
cocktail that increases the
likelihood for political
violence in that state.
>> The likelihood for political
violence is on his mind.
He spent 30 years in Republican
politics and was executive
director of the Michigan
Republican party from 2005 to
2009.
>> What we saw in 2020 will look
like child's play.
I fear it will get worse before
it gets better.
>> Still a self identified
conservative, he's no longer a
Republican.
>> Michigan for a long time was
an incubator for conservative,
Republican, good governance
ideas.
Now the party has evolved to
stand against things to become a
grievance factory.
You have to become simply a
factory of lies, propaganda, and
delusions that have radicalized
a wide swath of its voters.
>> In the aftermath of 2020,
officials are much more prepared
this go around.
Christopher Thomas ran Michigan
statewide elections for more
than 30 years.
He consults for the city of
Detroit, which is ready for
potential conflict on election
day.
>> Workers have been trained to
defuse situations.
Obviously, police forces all
over the state are engaged.
We think a lot of this attention
to what happened last time has
-- will assist us in maintaining
order throughout the day.%
>> Thomas fears even an orderly
election day is not the end.
>> Surely there will be those
who will contend that it was all
stolen.
I think that is part of the
process now.
That is not going to end anytime
soon.
>> We put the question to both
candidate.
Will you accept the election
results if you lose?
>> Of course, absolutely.
That is democracy.
Honestly, I am hopeful I will
win this election.
If I don't, of course we will
accept the results.
I will wish my opponent will.
>> Will you concede if you were
to lose?
>> I'm going to win.
>> You are not answering the
question.
>> Back in Madison heights, city
clerk Cheryl Rotman is in the
throes of final preparations for
election day.
>> Everybody has to remember our
poll workers are people's
grandparents, grandchildren,
just people interested in making
sure our democracy is run
properly.
>> This year, the election
workers will not put their last
names on nametags.
She is coordinating closely with
local police and tracking
external threats.
All unprecedented steps many
election officials are forced to
take.
For the pbs newshour, in
Michigan.