-For a very long time in America,
democracy and the mechanics of voting was viewed as sacred.
-We've moved away from a nation
where we have a common set of facts.
-At no time time up to 2016 did I think democracy
would be in the balance if the other side won.
-Midterm elections have often served as a referendum
on the political party of the sitting president.
-We were held accountable yesterday.
-The cumulative effect, however, was not too close.
It was a thumping.
-I'm not recommending for every future president
that they take a shellacking like they --
like I did last night.
-But rarely, if ever, have the midterm elections
served as a referendum on the electoral system itself.
Yet, according to Democrats and some Republicans,
the 2022 midterms are shaping up to be just that.
-No one of any party should be voting for people
who are election deniers.
-Your right to vote -- even our democracy
is on the ballot.
-We can't keep having elections that nobody can live with,
and we can't have this level of fraud.
-The majority of Republican candidates
for federal and statewide office this November
have denied or questioned the results of the 2020 election,
including the Republican gubernatorial nominees
in four of six states Trump contested in 2020.
Most of these election deniers nationwide
are expected to win this November.
-Misinformation is one of the most significant
and dangerous forces at work.
That is what has made election denialism
about the 2020 election the price of admission
in many Republican primaries.
-You see lots of election officials trying to counter
the misinformation that is out there.
And the challenge for them
is the sheer volume of misinformation.
-Experts say this disinformation has also strained
the electoral system through increased litigation,
voting restrictions, and threats to election workers.
Today, more than 70% of Americans,
including Democrats, Republicans, and independents,
say that US democracy is under threat.
-There are governors and attorneys general
and secretaries of state
who are making preparations for a scenario
in which an outcome is questioned.
-The fact that there are election deniers on the ballot
and that there has been this rise in state laws
to politicize, interfere with, and criminalize
aspects of election administration
is a real threat that could extend beyond this election.
-Two armed people in ski masks
outside this ballot drop-off location.
-A coalition of GOP groups filed a lawsuit
asking the court to block undated mail ballots.
-Stacking traditionally Democratic polling places
with Republican poll workers.
-There are increasing challenges to the electoral system.
The amount of election litigation
has risen across the country over the past two decades.
According to research from Richard Hasen,
election litigation in 2020 rose more than 25% compared to 2016.
Myths and disinformation has forced Pennsylvania officials
to repeatedly defend their elections in court.
-We've definitely had to shift resources, hire more staff.
We are using outside counsel
in addition to the Office of General Counsel
and the Office of Attorney General.
We've also seen a record number of Right to Know requests,
which are public-records requests,
and many of these are dealing with the 2020 election
while they're in the process of administering a 2022 election.
-Myths and disinformation has led to increased threats
for election workers.
-Election officials and election workers
are leaving their jobs
because they don't want to put up with these threats.
-Myths and disinformation also led to a spate of laws
restricting voting access the year after Trump's loss.
These laws were often pitched
in the name of shoring up elections,
even as those same states touted
their election administration months prior.
-The way Florida did it, I think, inspires confidence.
I think that's how elections should be run.
And me signing this bill here says,
"Florida, your vote counts. Your vote is going to be cast
with integrity and transparency."
-At the local level,
states have put forth a multi-pronged approach
to bolster the election process.
-In 2020, it was particularly difficult for election officials
to contend with absentee voting because many states saw it
at a level they had never seen before.
-This approach has included increased resources,
partnerships with federal agencies
to protect election workers,
and information campaigns
to counter myths and disinformation.
-Combating mis- and disinformation
is really the biggest challenge that we're facing right now
because there are so many different social-media platforms
and so many different ways people are consuming this media
that could chill the vote.
-Perception plays a big role here
because in Wisconsin and Michigan and some other states,
they can't start counting absentee ballots
until the day of election.
That takes longer to count.
And when you have that gap, you have an opportunity
for those who want to spread misinformation
to question why the results aren't coming in,
even though that's the normal process.
-At the federal level,
efforts to expand voting access have stalled,
but one significant effort could pass Congress
by the end of the year,
clarifying the Electoral Count Act of 1887.
-You go into 2020,
and we see really an outside communication effort
that said, you know, January 6th a day
where we can reverse the outcome.
-Peter Meijer is one of several House Republicans
who support efforts to clarify the Electoral Count Act.
The act sets out the procedures
for counting the Electoral College votes
after a presidential election.
Trump allies tried to use the law on January 6th
to overturn the 2020 election.
-By raising the threshold down the line
and making future Electoral College objections
less frequent,
it takes us off the path that we are currently on right now,
which is, whoever the losing party is,
this is their way of showing frustration.
-I think we'll pass the Electoral Count Act,
but I continue to be worried about the dark money
and the outside money that you see being spent.
-It's fundamentally frightening
when money plays such a huge role in who gets elected.
-The reforms, I think, are absolutely essential
if we're going to preclude any president
or any group or any faction
arguing that somehow the election was stolen.
It was not stolen.
The courts are set up for that.
-I get to appoint the Secretary of State,
and the road to 2024 goes straight through Pennsylvania.
-If we get all of our secretaries of state elected
around the country like this,
we take our country back.
-They're not going to be winning anymore
'cause we're going to have Jim Marchant
and Kristina Karamo and Mark Finchem
and people in the counting room around the green table.
-We'll be able to view both 2020 and 2022
as staging grounds to 2024 over this battle
over how elections are conducted.
-I don't think it's fair to characterize
the entire red Republican base
as being ready to overturn elections.
My optimism, such that I have it,
is that there are too many good people
across the political spectrum who really believe
in the 240-year government that we've had.
-If the Republicans took the House of Representatives
at a time of crisis in the world,
America, which is the light of democracy,
will be, to some degree,
rendered less able to accomplish that objective.
-The scenario that we should be most worried about
is a subverted election,
meaning an election where the declared winner
is not the candidate who is chosen by the voters.
-We're getting to a point where it's okay
to accept a result when you win
and to not accept a result when you lose.
And that is not how it's supposed to work.
And that is not a way forward for democracy to survive.