“Fake-Electors Scheme” and Decertification Efforts: Marc Elias Warns of GOP Tactics for 2024
Travis Long/The News & Observer/AP
Marc Elias, leader of Democracy Docket, issued a warning on MSNBC Monday night, highlighting Republican efforts to decertify elections ahead of the 2024 general election. Speaking with host Rachel Maddow, Elias detailed his organization’s work to safeguard elections and the persistent threats posed by GOP loyalty to former President Donald Trump.
Elias explained that discussions about who “won” an election involve two aspects: the “unofficial results” announced on Election Day by sources like The Associated Press, and the “certified results.” These results are first certified by counties and then by states. In presidential elections, the count proceeds to electors, with governors certifying results that are ultimately submitted to Congress.
“Jan. 6 was the culmination of a certification dispute,” Elias said, noting that the dispute began at the county level in Michigan. “And when Republicans couldn’t achieve what they wanted to at the county level, they went to the state level. When they couldn’t achieve that, they launched a ‘fake-electors scheme’ which is just another way of undermining accurate certifications.”
When these efforts failed, Republicans pursued a series of lawsuits, culminating in the attempt to block the certification of the election on Jan. 6. “This has been on their radar for some time and it will be on their radar screen for sure in 2024,” Elias warned.
Maddow highlighted that the GOP has repeatedly attempted decertification tactics at the county elections board level and in “off-the-radar” municipal elections — strategies that were “unheard of” before 2020.
“The idea of tinkering with the certification at the local level was just out of bounds,” Elias emphasized. “That is part of the pageantry of democracy. It is what makes us great as a country. That after a hard-fought election, the election officials celebrate the results by certifying these election results.”
Elias pointed to a successful lawsuit his group filed against Cochise County, Arizona, when Republicans refused to certify elections, resulting in indictments for those involved in the scheme.
“You might think that would serve as a deterrent for 2024 but as Donald Trump proved, the loyalty to his crimes and misdeeds is stronger than people’s instinct for self-preservation,” Elias said. As the 2024 elections approach, Elias’s remarks underscore the ongoing vigilance required to protect the integrity of the democratic process and the potential for repeated attempts to disrupt certification at various levels.
