Thread by @rickhasen

The risk of election subversion and a stolen election in 2024 became a national story last week, even though the issue isn't new (I wrote about the danger in @nytimes back in April).nytimes.com/2021/04/23/opi…
Here's why I think it's starting to resonate and where we go from here. /1

First, we had the release of the @costareports @realBobWoodward book peril, with revelations about the Eastman memo that literally directed VP Pence how he could simply steal the election for Trump. /2

This was followed by @CNN obtaining first a two page draft of the Eastman memo, and then Eastman himself (!) giving CNN a six page version that made him look even worse. /3

Last week was also the week of the sham Arizona "audit," and lots of anticipation about what it would find. Even though its total showed Biden still won Arizona, facts don't matter, and the fake rigged election rhetoric continues. /4

Indeed, new CNN polling found that 59 percent of Republicans say that believing Trump's (false) claims about a rigged election are important about what it means now to *be* a Republican. /5

In addition to the Eastman memo and audit, there has been key reporting on the risk of a stolen election in 2004. Both @reuters and @Vice did stories on candidates who want to run elections embracing the Big Lie. /6

I also wrote a draft law review article, Identifying and Minimizing the Risk of Election Subversion and Stolen Elections in the Contemporary U.S." that got a lot of attention, including columns by @JRubinBlogger @ThePlumLineGS papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… /7

Robert Kagan wrote an important WaPo opinion piece on the constitutional crisis already here, throwing cold water on those who think Trump simply won't run again in 2024. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/… /8

Then on Friday, @UCILaw's Fair Elections and Free Speech Center convened a conference of leading thinkers, academics, and election officials on the risk of election subversion in the U.S. (coverage in @theguardian electionlawblog.org/?p=124802) /9

We will be releasing the video and transcript of the @UCILaw election subversion conference soon. Even as the organizer, I can say that some of what I heard from my co-panelists was chilling. /10

Because of the paper and conference, I did a number of major media appearances about election subversion, including CNN (with @PamelaBrownCNN and @ianbassin) that you can view here: /11

I also talked to @aymanm @AymanMSNBC with @TheRickWilson about the dangers of election subversion and particularly what House Republicans would do if they had the House majority in 2024 and Trump claimed fraud. /12

I also did this deep dive on the risk of election subversion with @SachaPfeiffer @onthemedia, which lays out in more detail the dangers ahead: wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/s… /13

And then on Sunday, @zackstanton for @POLITICOMag @politico had an in-depth Q and A with me on the risk of election subversion, with the provocative yet accurate title, "What If 2020 Was Just a Rehearsal?" politico.com/news/magazine/… /14

There's now a lot of attention on the issue of election subversion and the risk of a stolen election in the U.S. in 2024. Which is great. But it's not enough. Hand-wringing won't accomplish anything. Democrats in Congress (and some principled Republicans) need to step up now. /15

It's easy to think of changes that could greatly lessen the risk of a stolen election in 2024, including paper ballots, reform of the Electoral Count Act (which @ThePlumLineGS) has pushed, and more. Part III of my paper lays out what needs to happen. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… /16

I'll have more to say about whether Democrats should go it alone on fighting election subversion soon. But making changes in law won't be enough. We need to solidify norms of running fair elections and bolster election officials with integrity. /17

We also need to organize politically, to fight those who would run for office embracing the false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Those people are much more likely to mess with a fair count in 2024. /18

And we need to be prepared for massive peaceful protests if political officials try to overrun the will of the people in 2024. We need to be vigilant to protect free and fair elections, something I never expected to worry about in the U.S. /19

So it is great we've got election subversion on the national agenda, at least for now. But talk is cheap. It's time for action to protect our elections from the greatest threat they face. 20/20

https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1442553806969917440?s=20

And in my list of things that have moved the national conversation on election subversion onto the agenda, I left out this key piece in @theatlantic by @adamserwer: theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…