The allegations about the 2020 United States election are well known: President Donald Trump and a majority of his Republican party argued that the election was rigged, with unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud present leading to a shift in results. While independent investigations and court rulings contradicted these claims, they served a purpose: to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the poll and its outcome, fuelling dissent among the public. Now, recent moves suggest the same Republican party is seeking to implement tactics that could potentially influence the 2024 election in their favor.
Firstly, the GOP is using its powers in state legislatures to dramatically reshape the rules of voting and elections. By April 2021, Republican legislators had introduced over 360 bills in 47 states, designed to restrict voting access, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. These bills aim to introduce stricter ID requirements, limit absentee voting, enable more aggressive voter roll purging, and create tougher regulations for voter registration. The intentions may be veiled in the cloak of ‘election integrity’ and ‘voter fraud prevention’, but the decreasing voting accessibility disproportionately affects communities who lean Democratic, including low-income individuals and minority groups.
Secondly, Republicans are also strategically aiming to control election oversight. By replacing Democratic or independent election officials with handpicked successors loyal to the GOP, they ensure more control over the running of the elections. This could possibly provide an avenue for decision making that is advantageous for the GOP and detrimental to the opponents. In some states like Arizona and Georgia, partisan legislative control over election processes is becoming a reality, enforcing procedures that could undermine the independence of electoral bodies.
Thirdly, the party continues to indulge in gerrymandering, a practice of manipulating the boundaries of electoral constituencies to favor one party. The redrawing of districts by Republicans following last year’s census, especially in states like Texas and Florida, indicates a clear attempt to secure additional seats in Congress for the next decade and more.
Further compounding matters is the propagation of the Big Lie theory, a term coined for the false notion that the 2020 election was fraught with rampant fraud. By nurturing this misinformation, Republicans are stoking distrust in the electoral process. Therefore when changes are introduced under the guise of restoring election integrity, they are more easily accepted—despite the fact that these measures are likely to restrict access to voting, inhibit fair representation, and ultimately damage the democratic process.
Notably, these actions do not mean the 2024