Opinion: Win or Lose, We Must Trust in Our Electoral Systems

Election season is upon us and the political tension in America is palpable. Political tribalism has become an increasingly prevalent issue and social media has only fed that flame. On top of that, this election comes on the heels of a whirlwind newscycle that saw, among many other things, an assassination attempt against President Trump and the departure of President Biden from the 2024 race. 

I’m sure that you, like myself, are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of news being broken at lightning speed. Some of you may be distrustful of our electoral systems amid the many stories of politicians and politicos vying for power. That distrust may be growing after we’ve had claims of election fraud and rigging from high-ranking officials and candidates on both sides of the aisle. 

That distrust is a bad thing, and it’s something that needs to be reversed to preserve our republic. It is a rot that our foreign adversaries want to see spread like wildfire across our nation. They know that if they sow distrust in our electoral system, they create chaos in our country. They relish in this chaos because they know they can get away with advancing their plans without repercussion. 

Wisconsin is one of the state’s leading the charge to restore confidence in our elections. We are taking steps to make sure that bad actors can’t impact our elections, things like ensuring voting machines are never connected to the internet, keeping paper ballots secured in polling places and requiring voter identification. As a state, we understand how critical elections are — especially as a presidential swing state — and our approach has been bipartisan, as these issues should be. And bipartisan groups like mine, the Democracy Defense Project, are here to restore that faith in our electoral system. 

Distrust in elections can actually lead to fraud, as claims of rigged elections undermine our system in place. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist — fraud and voter intimidation happen. We can point to attempted voter intimidation and fraud in the 2020 election in states like Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia, but the states’ investigations concluded the attempts did not substantively impact the election. But there is a difference between knowing fraud exists and appropriately acting when it is uncovered, and claiming an election was stolen because you wanted the other party to win. 

Moreso, we must rebuild trust in our elections so that we don’t lose engaged voters in our election process. If you believe your vote doesn’t matter, you won’t participate which is the worst thing that can happen when you are passionate about the issues of the day. The true patriotism this country needs comes from those who understand that while we may not agree with the choices voters make, we each have the same voice and should see losses as a chance to do better next time. 

This year, being vigilant for actual attempts at voter intimidation, suppression, or other forms of fraud are critical to ensuring free and fair elections – as are efforts to reassure our communities that we’re making sure there are protections in place to prevent fraud on a massive scale. We need to trust our systems, but verify the results, exactly why we have volunteer poll watchers on Election Day to be the eyes and ears of the public. We at the Democracy Defense Project will not be afraid to speak up, to call balls and strikes. Republicans and Democrats alike are coming together to share the same message: We’re ready, we’re watching, and we’re going to make sure that this election is free and fair. 

So please, vote!