… Allegations of voter fraud and irregularities have been used by Republicans to sow distrust in the American electoral system for decades, experts said, laying the groundwork for Trump’s sweeping claim that widespread fraud denied him a second term and priming the party’s base to believe him despite his inability to prove it. These same falsehoods, the experts said, will be used to restrict ballot-box access in the future.
“The same lies that drove the insurrections were also being repeated on the floor of the Congress by the people trying to upend the people’s votes,” said Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. “And those are the same lies we’re going to hear in state capitols by people trying to restrict the vote.” …
Trump didn’t invent claims of a rigged election — he simply turned up the volume, experts said. CONTINUED
Jane C. Timm, NBC News
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