In the days after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a “forensic audit” of the November 2020 elections, the elections administrators of the four targeted counties were left scratching their heads. Officials in Dallas and Collin counties told us in late September that they were waiting to receive instructions from the Texas secretary of state. Tarrant and Harris counties were also in the dark.
We condemned the audit at that time, though we hoped there would be no follow-through. We thought it might be a superficial stunt to appease President Donald Trump, and nothing more.
But our news colleagues recently reported that Secretary of State John Scott sent a long list of requested documents to the four counties. And last month, the governor and GOP legislative leaders shifted $4 million from the state prison system to the office of the secretary of state to pay for the audit.
Abbott is making a mistake by pressing on with this forensic audit — whatever it is that GOP leaders mean by “forensic.” The myth of widespread voter fraud is red meat for Republican primary voters but far less palatable to moderate suburban voters in a general election, a political calculus that the governor must make as he campaigns for another term and seeks to carry down-ballot Republicans with him.
Above all, this obsession with election audits is eroding democracy for all of us, no matter our political affiliation.
The Texas GOP’s treatment of election integrity as a legislative emergency makes no sense on its face. Trump won Texas comfortably, and voters here kept the state a Republican stronghold. The state’s director of elections described the 2020 vote as “smooth and secure.”
Yet Abbott and his allies have steered us into Orwellian territory. Texans have heard repeatedly that the elections audits are an attempt to restore confidence in our state’s elections systems. They are having precisely the opposite effect. Our democracy is being weakened by these baseless searches for fraud.
Targeted for suspicion are two counties that are Democratic strongholds and two counties that have grown more diverse and where Democrats are gaining ground. That’s not a coincidence.
Efforts to undermine election systems continue unabated nationwide. According to one study, at least 16 states have proposed or passed laws this year that would transfer power over election administration from governors or elections officials to legislatures. We should all be alarmed about what this shift means for our future votes.
Our democracy draws its strength from a tradition of debate. We debate issues, we debate policy. We offer choices, and we accept the will of voters. That is what has made our democracy healthy for generations, regardless of whether a Republican or Democrat lived in the White House.
This campaign to make Americans question the validity of elections is corrosive, and all of us will pay the price. How long can our leaders chip away at the foundation of our democracy before the house comes crashing down?
Dallas Morning News
