World & Nation
· collected 2026-09-06 · by Mark Z. Barabak
Election deniers target secretary of state races in key states
asserted
deniers → target → states
-
Click here to listen to this article -
- Trump’s attempts to undermine our democracy have elevated the import of the secretary of state’s office.
asserted
attempts → click → office
- Election deniers on the ballot in Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin could make mischief in 2028.
uncertain
deniers → make → 2028
A government intended to reflect and honor the will of the people works only if the people can express their will.
asserted
people → intend → will
That’s why we have elections.
asserted
we → ’ → elections
John Lewis, the late Georgia congressman and hero of the civil rights movement, said voting is precious and “the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society.”
asserted
we → say → society
Former President Reagan called the right to vote “the crown jewel of American liberties.”
asserted
Reagan → call → liberties
Alas, we have a president who believes his most precious right, apart from lining his silken pockets, is nursing his over-ripened ego.
asserted
right → have → ego
Donald Trump can’t stand the fact he lost the 2020 election — which he most emphatically did — and so he’s built a carapace of lies: about illegal ballots, rigged election machinery, rampant voting by noncitizens, and so on.
asserted
he → stand → noncitizens
Worse than his deceit — which has deeply undermined faith in our elections and the dedicated people who run them — is Trump’s brazen efforts to rig the system by disenfranchising millions of voters, all so he can keep Democrats from winning office.
asserted
he → undermine → office
Reagan, no less than Lewis, probably is turning cartwheels in his grave.
asserted
Reagan → turn → grave
The effort is part of the implementation of President Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting and has been temporarily halted by a federal judge.
asserted
effort → limit → judge
The ruling is being appealed by the administration and the directive may ultimately end up back before the U.S. Supreme Court.
uncertain
directive → appeal → Court
In November, voters in 26 states will elect a secretary of state, choosing the officials who will oversee the 2028 presidential race throughout most of the country.
asserted
who → elect → country
What could possibly go wrong?
uncertain
What → go → ?
Let’s hope we don’t find out.
asserted
we → hope → ?
The secretary of state used to be one of those ministerial posts that few outside government knew or much cared about; from a political standpoint, the office and its occupant seemed dull and dry as Melba toast.
asserted
office → use → toast
That changed after 2000, when Republican Katherine Harris placed her weighty thumb on the scale and helped deliver Florida’s 25 electoral votes, and the White House, to George W. Bush.
asserted
Harris → change → Bush
What really politicized the office of secretary of state, though, was Trump’s obsessive compulsion with his 2020 defeat.
asserted
politicized → politicize → defeat
Spurred by his incessant lies about supposed fraud, allies and opportunists set out to hijack the country’s election machinery and do Trump’s dirty work from the inside.
asserted
allies → spur → inside
In 2022, a group calling itself the America First SOS Coalition endorsed a slate of cranks and quacks who ran for secretary of state in 14 states, including the presidential battlegrounds of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.
asserted
who → call → Arizona
Thankfully, all of them lost, save for one candidate in Indiana.
asserted
all → lose → Indiana
Among those defeated was Tina Peters, the former county elections chief in Mesa County, Colo., who went on to infamy, and prison, for orchestrating a security breach aimed at “proving” 2020 votes were stolen from Trump.
asserted
votes → defeat → Trump
(Never mind that he won the county by nearly 30 percentage points.)
asserted
he → mind → points
The SOS Coalition apparently is defunct; its website address now leads to an online gambling portal.
asserted
address → lead → portal
But more than two dozen election deniers ran for secretary of state this year, according to States United Democracy Center, a nonpartisan group that works to promote fair and secure elections nationwide.
uncertain
that → run → elections
Six of those candidates won their primaries and made it to November’s ballot, including in three states — Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin — that promise to be key once more to picking the next president.
asserted
that → win → president
The stakes in those races are considerable, said Peverill Squire, a University of Missouri expert on state elections.
asserted
Squire → say → elections
“Who’s going to be administering [election] rules?
asserted
Who → go → rules
How they’re going to interpret those rules?” he said, offering examples of the office’s import.
asserted
he → go → import
“Whether they’re going to try to make it more difficult to vote, or easier to vote.
asserted
it → go → ?
Whether they’re going to try to engage in activities that will further raise doubts in some people’s minds about how fairly the election has been conducted.
asserted
election → go → minds
The contest in Nevada is a rerun of 2022, when Democrat Cisco Aguilar narrowly defeated Republican Jim Marchant.
asserted
Aguilar → defeat → Marchant
Undeterred, Marchant continues to spout gibberish about sabotaged voting machines and other far-fetched claims of election chicanery.
uncertain
Marchant → continue → chicanery
Among the remedies he’s floated, according to the Nevada Independent, is using technology to measure voters’ heartbeat as a way to verify their identity.
uncertain
he → float → identity
Um...
Meanwhile, in Arizona, incumbent Democrat Adrian Fontes faces Republican state Rep. Alexander Kolodin, an attorney who was sanctioned by the State Bar for pursuing baseless claims of 2020 election fraud.
uncertain
who → face → fraud
One of his Trump-inspired lawsuits was swiftly rejected by a federal judge who noted its conspicuous lack of “relevant or reliable evidence” — thus raising doubts not just about Kolodin’s discernment but also his capacity to cover even the basics.
asserted
who → inspire → basics
In Wisconsin, where elections are overseen by a six-member, bipartisan commission, Republican Jay Schroeder is running on a pledge to dismantle that fair-minded system, calling it a “failed experiment.”
asserted
Schroeder → oversee → it
Had he been secretary of state in 2020, Schroeder told NBC News, he would not have certified Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
asserted
he → tell → state
That’s all you need to know, Wisconsin.
asserted
you → ’ → ?
…and 11 more, not listed.
