ICYMI: The Growing Threat To Democracy

A Spotlight on 204 Officials Who Could Undermine Our Elections

Last month, we released our latest report, Democracy Under Threat, identifying election officials from six battleground states who exhibited anti-democracy tendencies, based on research into the personnel in charge of elections in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

We found 94 local officials responsible for administering elections and 110 state lawmakers who provoked concerns about harboring anti-democracy bias, from abusing their authority to sow doubt about results to attempting to reject ballots from the counting process to spreading election misinformation. And what’s more, these anti-democracy actors often run unopposed.

Since its release, our report has been covered by outlets across the country:

POLITICO Nightly: The Pessimist’s Case on the State of American Democracy

“A new report…argues that while it was a normative good that those top-of-the-ticket candidates lost, people are missing the forest for a few particularly tall trees.

Politics PA: Report Identifies 36 Local PA Officials As Possible Threats To Elections

“The report calls out not only elected public officials, but also the media narrative that centers on ‘terms like election denier and misinformation.’ Informing Democracy says that the ‘true nature of the threat is officials with power over elections are acting on their anti-democratic beliefs to undermine the will of the voters.’”

“Among its findings, the report identified 27 current Pennsylvania state legislators – nine state senators and 18 representatives – as election deniers, only three who faced a primary opponent in 2022. It also listed 36 local officials with election authority, including those in nine Pennsylvania counties – Berks, Columbia, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Lancaster, Luzerne, Lycoming and Westmoreland – who ‘promoted election conspiracies, or who otherwise undermined faith in the vote-counting process.’”

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: New Report: 36 Officials In 22 Pa. Counties Could Pose Election Threat

“The Pennsylvania officials identified in the report include Allegheny County Councilor Sam DeMarco, whose name appeared on a fake slate of pro-Donald Trump electors; Berks County Commissioners Christian Leinbach and Michael Rivera, Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko, Fulton County Commissioner Stuart Ulsh, and others.”

Detroit Metro Times: These 41 Officials In Michigan Labeled ‘Ongoing Threats To Democracy’ By Watchdog Group

“More than 40 local and state officials in Michigan have been deemed ‘ongoing threats to democracy’ by a nonpartisan watchdog group for their role in sowing disinformation about election fraud … The officials — most of them elected — were involved in anti-democratic activities such as seeking to restrict voting access, attending ‘Stop the Steal’ rallies at the U.S. Capitol and Michigan Capitol, promoting conspiracy theories about election fraud, calling to void votes from the city of Detroit, criticizing the state certification of election results, and calling on then-Vice President to not certify the presidential election.”

The Livingston Post (MI): New Watchdog Group Includes Bezotte, Bollin Among Those It Deems 'threats To Democracy'

From Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s The Jolt: “The nonprofit research group Informing Democracy released a report this week identifying more than 200 state and local election officials in six states who ‘exhibited anti-democratic tendencies or actions’ ahead of the 2022 vote. The list includes 19 officials in Georgia from 12 counties.”

From WisPolitics: “In the Badger state, Informing Democracy found many officials who provoked concern due to anti-democratic tendencies or activities, including three local officials from three jurisdictions and 11 current state legislators, including 10 who ran unopposed in the primaries and one who ran unopposed in the general election.”

This report is a first and important step in cataloging these actors, but as these threats continue to expand, our work to stay vigilant must too. That’s why we’re committed to providing information about the individuals and processes that govern the counting of votes and certification of elections, now and through Election Day.

Thank you,

The Informing Democracy Team