New Mexico voters urged to make a stand for free, fair, safe elections
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The post-election period leading up to Monday's inauguration has been decidedly calmer than the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
But those who monitor the process say it's no guarantee for the future.
Maria Teresa Kumar, co-founder and president of the Voto Latino Foundation, said a playbook has been created for losing candidates to claim the results were illegitimate.
When disinformation campaigns are successful, she said Americans lose confidence in elections.
She said she believes voters should be proactive in educating themselves about how the system works if elections are to remain free, fair, and safe.
"We have to remind the American public that regardless of who wins," said Kumar, "the person that loses has to concede effectively."
She also said the vote count following elections must be faster - so nefarious actors don't insert themselves, or conspiracy theories take hold before all the ballots are counted.
When President-elect Donald Trump lost in 2020, he claimed the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud, irregularities, and cheating by the Democratic Party.
That messaging was endlessly repeated by some in the GOP throughout President Joe Biden's term in office.
David Becker is the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, and said he believes election denialism is about who wins, not about election integrity - demonstrated by wildly different reactions from Trump supporters in November, compared to four years ago.
"Magically in 2024, with these very same policies in place in most of these states, they were suddenly confident," said Becker. "And it's one of the reasons I'm concerned that election denialism is not dead - it is still completely tied to outcomes."
Despite numerous lawsuits filed on Trump's behalf claiming the 2020 election was stolen, state-level courts did not find evidence of massive fraud and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear appeals.
Support for this reporting was provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
