If Americans have questions and concerns about how our elections are administered and how ballots are tabulated, does that make them “election deniers,” conspiracy theorists, threats to democracy?
The Wall Street Journal seems to think so. In a long news report published over the weekend headlined, “‘It Feels Very Dystopian.’ Republican County Officials Brace for Election Deniers—Again,” the Journal repeatedly characterized those who think the 2020 election was stolen, rigged, or less-than-secure as “election deniers,” and stopped just short of calling them domestic terrorists.
The piece is framed as a disturbing look at the growing threats facing local election officials from “election deniers” — an asinine epithet — as we approach November 5: “Four years of baseless allegations of election fraud have created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation among election officials from Atlanta to rural Washington state, transforming the way workers in many parts of the country are approaching the most fundamental of civic duties.”
Election officials, workers, and even volunteers have been forced to take extraordinary measures to protect themselves, we’re told. Active shooter drills, barricading exercises, trauma kits, bulletproof glass, and bulletproof vests have all become commonplace in election offices across the country. Scary stuff.
And it’s all Trump’s fault, apparently. After a series of legal challenges to the 2020 results were dismissed, Trump “has continued to assert the election was rigged,” the article reads, eliding the important difference between stealing and rigging an election.
The former would mean falsely cast or illegally changed ballots, which is difficult to prove
