It cannot be over-stated that this position requires a person in whom we have the utmost confidence and trust. As expressed by Lawrence Norden, senior director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, “If you can’t have trusted, neutral people running our elections, then you don’t really have free and fair elections, then we’re not a functioning democracy anymore.”

Across America, election deniers, ardent promoters of Donald Trump’s baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen through rampant voter fraud, are on the ballot for secretary of state, other key positions and state legislatures.

If any of these candidates win they will possess a plethora of powers to subvert future elections simply because they don’t like the result. These rogue election officials could attempt to prematurely stop the counting of ballots, turn the outcome over to a partisan state legislature, or simply refuse to certify the result (exactly what former President Trump hoped former Vice President Mike Pence would do).

In his speech September 1 in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, President Biden stated, “equality and democracy are under assault” (referencing to those who) “refuse to accept the results of a free election,” adding, “in state after state, they’re working to give power to decide elections to partisans, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.”

I truly believe the threat to democracy is the single most important issue facing America today. Even though state and federal investigations found no evidence of widespread voter fraud and even though Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security, Justice Department and FBI vouched for the election’s integrity, people believed the lie so strongly they stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a desperate attempt to stop the election’s certification, breaking a nearly 250-year tradition of peacefully transferring power.

When Benjamin Franklin left Independence Hall after the second drafting of the Constitution, he was confronted by a woman who asked him, “what manner of government have you bequeathed us, sir?” To which Franklin answered, “a Republic, madam, if you can keep it.”

Rest assured, democracy and our future are on the ballot this November. A recent Quinnipiac Poll found that: “Americans (67% to 29%) think the nation’s democracy is in danger of collapse.” We have cause to be concerned that a large number of Americans support Donald Trump, men and women who have put loyalty to one man above honor and above duty to truth, country and the Constitution.

Realistically, what can any conscientious voter with a sense of right and wrong do in a political environment seemingly leveraged against them by bought-and-paid-for politicians who very often act in a desultory manner giving rise to the commonly held perception they are elected to be served rather than to serve? First, voting a strict party line is probably counter-productive. It allows politicians to campaign on sound bites and worn-out platitudes rather than being pinned down to what they actually believe and forced to declare their intentions. Voters have a right to know for whom they’re voting and, conversely, voters have a responsibility to do the legwork, to ask questions, to research, to satisfy themselves that a candidate merits their support and their vote.

Many voters don’t take their responsibility seriously enough. That’s how we ran into trouble in 2016. Joe Biden called Trump’s political philosophy, “semi-fascism.” I believe Biden to be correct. Trump has been, is, and will continue to be, a grave threat to democracy and our nation.

David L. Snell

Franklin