In Georgia and beyond, how election officials are working to mitigate distrust ahead of the midterms
"Our elections, in fact, are safe and secure," one expert told ABC News.
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expert → work → News
Election officials from coast to coast are facing a slew of challenges ahead of the high-stakes midterms, from the Trump administration's bid to impose itself on state-run elections to last-minute court challenges and threats faced by election workers -- all under a persistent sense of distrust in the voting process itself, some experts told ABC News.
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experts → face → News
"Usually the temperature is much higher -- and emotions run much hotter -- in a presidential election year than in a midterm election year," said Wendy Weiser, vice president of the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.
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Weiser → run → Law
"This year, though, the temperature is staying up at a high level."
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temperature → stay → level
Election experts broadly lay blame for the elevated sense of distrust in elections this year at the feet of President Donald Trump, whose administration has taken unprecedented steps to question the outcome by levelling unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud.
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administration → lay → fraud
Trump administration officials say steps they've taken in recent weeks -- including lawsuits in California and Alaska and threats to prosecute election workers -- are meant to ensure the integrity of the election.
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they → say → election
But under the weight of those allegations, state officials say the once-collaborative rapport between the federal government and state leaders has in some cases given way to a deep sense of suspicion.
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rapport → say → suspicion
"There's no trust in that relationship," Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar told ABC News.
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Aguilar → be → News
"In order to have a working relationship, there has to be trust, and the fact that they continue to tear that trust apart and spread the misinformation and the lies that they are about our elections is wrong."
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they → work → elections
At the same time, people who oversee voting at the county level across the country are frequently fielding questions from voters who say they lack faith in the electoral process.
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they → oversee → process
About 6 in 10 Americans are confident the midterm elections will be conducted fairly and accurately, while nearly 4 in 10 Americans and about 3 in 10 voters are not confident , according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos' KnowledgePanel.
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Americans → conduct → KnowledgePanel
"No matter how transparent we are, people always are questioning what we're doing [and] how we're doing it," Deidre Holden, the director of elections and voter registration in Paulding County, Georgia, told ABC News.
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Holden → question → News
"I try to explain [that] we have nothing to hide.
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we → try → nothing
You're welcome to come in and watch the process.
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You → come → process
'You never know what someone's going to do'
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someone → know → what
Holden, who has been an elections official in Georgia for 25 years, said that in her early years in the role, she "used to train people on how to smile and hand out an 'I voted' sticker."
Yet over the last several years, Holden has devoted much of her time to ensuring that everyone at polling places and in the county's ballot processing facility are safe.
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everyone → say → facility
She currently has a sheriff's deputy stationed at every polling location, and in 2024 she first showed ABC News the active shooter training her poll workers were undertaking as a precaution.
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workers → have → precaution
"I'm forever concerned with the security of my staff, with my poll workers, with my voters," Holden said.
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Holden → concern → voters
"You never know what someone's going to do."
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someone → know → what
Paulding County was once a solidly Republican area, but as the suburban sprawl around Atlanta has increased, the county's population has quadrupled and it is now a purple county with Democrats and Republicans living side by side.
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Democrats → increase → side
With such a partisan divide, Holden said transparency about the process is key.
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transparency → say → process
"Some of our best poll workers have come from the naysayers that didn't trust us and we invited them in and now they're our best workers and our biggest advocates because they get to see behind the scenes, they get see how the sausage is made, how we do things and how we do those things with integrity," Holden said.
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Holden → come → integrity
'I just want to find 11,780 votes'
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I → want → votes
The official once again overseeing the election at the state level in Georgia this November is Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who rose to national prominence in January 2021 after receiving a phone call from President Donald Trump.
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who → oversee → Trump
"All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes," Trump told Raffensperger at the time, claiming it was "not possible" that he lost Georgia's 2020 presidential election.
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he → want → election
Joe Biden won the 2020 election in the Peach State and Raffensperger certified the results, despite facing criticism from some other Republicans.
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Raffensperger → win → Republicans
"At the end of the day we did our job, we followed the law and we followed the constitution," Raffensperger told ABC News in a recent interview.
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Raffensperger → do → interview
"I know I did the right thing, and I feel sorry for people that didn't do the right thing, because at some point, they're going to have to look at themselves in the mirror," he said.
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he → know → mirror
Raffensperger's time in office will end in January.
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time → end → January
Early voting for the midterms is currently underway in Georgia, and Raffensperger said he is confident that residents will have an accurate idea of the projected election results by midnight after the polls close.
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polls → say → midnight
"Those ballots actually in effect will be counted three times just to verify the result, so at the end of the day, we know that the winner won and that's our job," Raffensperger said.
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Raffensperger → count → day
'What they've been able to uncover is nothing'
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been → uncover → What
While Raffensperger was on the phone with Trump in 2021, many recent dustups between the federal government and state agencies have involved staffers going back and forth over email and video conferencing.
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staffers → involve → email
At the core of the growing friction is the claim by President Trump and DHS officials that the country has a "broken" election system, where they claim 278,000 people who are not U.S. citizens have registered to vote illegally.
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who → grow → system
Weiser told ABC News that the Trump administration has been attempting to "substantiate their theory that our country is plagued by widespread voter fraud."
"What they've been able to uncover is nothing," Weiser said.
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Weiser → tell → What
The allegations of widespread noncitizen voting have not just been made at press conferences.
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allegations → make → conferences
Over the summer, DHS employees reached out to states around the U.S., sending letters and holding meetings about "the concerning results" of what they called a "preliminary review" of potential noncitizens registered to vote.
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they → reach → noncitizens
Aguilar, the Nevada secretary of state, said members of his office ended up on a video conference call in August with DHS representatives alleging that there could be as many as 15,903 noncitizens registered to vote in Nevada.
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representatives → say → Nevada
One of the DHS officials on the call was Heather Honey, a known election denier and a key figure in the fight to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
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One → know → election
While not overtly hostile, a recording of the video conference obtained by ABC News shows palpable tension and some awkward exchanges, as Nevada officials seemed deeply skeptical of the claims made by DHS.
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officials → obtain → DHS
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
