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The Economist Magazine 9th July 2021. Having campaigned for the presidency on a promise to rejuvenate democracy around the world, Joe Biden finds himself in a battle to defend it at home . In June , 200 prominent American scholars of democracy signed a letter warning that
changes to state laws are “transforming several states into political systems that no longer meet the minimum conditions for free and fair elections”. Another longtime student of American democracy, the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, said in January that if an election could be overturned by fact free allegations from the losing side, “Our democracy would enter a death spiral.” Yet that is just what his party is facilitating.
For Democrats the at to elections is about who can cast votes. They decry changes to laws on identification, postal ballots and so on, which they call “the new Jim Crow ”. Although there is no excuse for restricting such things as Sunday voting, which is popular with African American churches, their fears are overblown. Under the old Jim Crow , only 2% of African Americans were registered to vote in some southern states . By contrast, political scientists are unsure whether today ’s schemes will affect turnout at all. The Economist Magazine 9th July 2021
Instead the real threat comes after votes have been cast (see United States section). In Arizona, for example, the legislature wants to limit the independence of the chief elections officer; a state representative introduced a law letting the legislature overturn the results of a presidential election, and then started campaigning to oversee elections herself. In Georgia the state legislature can now replace the leadership of county election boards. Texas is considering a bill that makes it easier to prosecute election officials . Across the country, the officials who administer elections in states where Republicans hold sway have been attacked for upholding the election results. Many are at risk of being replaced. The Economist Magazine 9th July 2021.
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