ATLANTA — It was Election Day last November, and one of Georgia’s top election officials saw that reports of a voting machine problem in an eastern Pennsylvania county were gaining traction online.
So Gabriel Sterling, a Republican who defended the 2020 election in Georgia amid an onslaught of threats, posted a message to his nearly 71,000 followers on the social platform X — formerly Twitter — explaining what happened and saying all votes would be counted correctly.
He faced immediate criticism about why he was weighing in on another state’s election. Other responses reiterated false claims about fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
“It’s still the right thing to do,†Sterling told a gathering the following day. “We have to be prepared to say over and over again — other states are doing it different than us, but they are not cheating.â€
Sterling, chief operating officer for the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, is part of an effort that started about 18 months ago and seeks to bring together Republican officials who defend the country’s election systems and the people who run them. They want officials to reinforce the message that elections are secure and accurate.
The group held meetings in several states, with more planned before the Nov. 5 election.
Ahead of the likely rematch between Democratic President Joe Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump, election officials’ concerns are running high that public distrust of voting and ballot counting persists, particularly among Republicans.
Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, continues to sow doubts about the last presidential election and is warning his followers — without citing evidence — that Democrats will try to cheat in the upcoming one.
Just 22% of Republicans expressed high confidence that votes will be counted accurately in November, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll last year.
“It’s an obligation on Republicans’ part to stand up for the defense of our system because our party — there’s some blame for where we stand right now,†said Kentucky’s secretary of state, Michael Adams, who is part of the group and won reelection last year. “But it’s also strategically wise for Republicans to say, ‘Hey Republicans, you can trust this. Don’t stay at home.’â€
The effort is coordinated by the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the center-right think tank R Street Institute. The goal is to start conversations about trust in elections, primarily among conservative officials, and to develop a set of principles to accomplish that.
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“This has never been and will never be about Trump specifically,†said Matt Germer, director of governance for the R Street Institute and a lead organizer of the effort. “It’s about democratic principles at a higher level — what does it mean to be a conservative who believes in democracy, the rule of law?â€
He said an aim is to have a structure in place to support election officials who might find themselves in situations like that of Georgia’ secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger in 2020, when he supported Trump but rejected false claims that the election was stolen.
Prosecutors in Georgia since charged Trump and others, alleging a plot to overturn the results. Trump pleaded not guilty.
“You can be a Republican and you can believe in all the Republican ideas without having to say the election was stolen,†Germer said.
A guiding principle for the group is that Republican officials should “publicly affirm the security and integrity of elections across the U.S. and avoid actively fueling doubt about elections in other jurisdictions.â€
Kim Wyman, a Republican who previously served as Washington state’s top election official, said it’s imperative when officials are confronted with questions about an election elsewhere that they don’t avoid the question by promoting election procedures in their own state.
It’s OK to say you don’t know laws and procedures in another state, she said, but she urged fellow Republicans to emphasize what states have in common: “the security measures, the control measures to make sure the election is being conducted with integrity.â€
Utah’s Republican Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, the state’s top election official, participates in the group’s discussions. She said avoiding criticism of other states and vouching for the legitimacy of election procedures can help reduce the threats and harassment directed at election workers.
A recent survey by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s Law School found that nearly 40% of local election officials experienced such abuse. It’s caused many to leave their jobs. Of 29 clerks in Utah, Henderson said 20 are new since 2020 and nine have never overseen an election.
Kansas’ secretary of state, Scott Schwab, a Republican who participated in meetings organized by the group, said he would remain cautious of speaking directly about something specific in another state.
“If I start going beyond my realm and my role, then they don’t trust me. And if they don’t trust me, then they don’t trust the elections in Kansas, and that’s pretty important,†Schwab said in an interview.
Secretary of State Mac Warner of West Virginia, a Republican who questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election, said the focus should be on improving policies, such as putting in place voter ID requirements across the country, not silencing those who have questions.
“Our primary job as election officials is to build confidence,†he said, “and that comes from strengthening protocols and not weakening them.â€
Rate my president: 35% of college students favor Trump, 33% Biden, ahead of November election
Rate my president: 35% of college students favor Trump, 33% Biden, ahead of November election
Choosing beyond Biden and Trump
Trump voters more likely to be men—and heterosexual
Surveyed students share concerns about economy and social policy
No shortage of influencers for surveyed students
Half of surveyed students don't trust the system
Biden supporters have faith in free and fair elections
From left, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ state House Speaker Rusty Bowers, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Georgia Secretary of State’s Office COO Gabriel Sterling attend a hearing June 21, 2022, investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol at the Capitol in Washington.