… Republican candidates echoing Trump’s disproven claims of fraud about 2020 have already been nominated, or are seeking nominations, for positions with control over election machinery in all five of the states that flipped from supporting Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020 — Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Republican candidates touting similar arguments are also in strong positions to win GOP nominations for key election positions in states just outside that inner circle of most competitive contests, including secretary of state races in Nevada, Minnesota and Colorado.
And even as these candidates are advancing, Republican legislators are moving a flurry of bills to change the rules for both voter access and election administration. …
This two-front offensive revolving around efforts to both change the election laws and who administers those laws could reconfigure the fundamental landscape for the 2024 election much more than most Americans, or even many political leaders, seem aware. It could also thrust the nation into incendiary turmoil about the legitimacy of the next presidential result, no matter who wins. CONTINUED
Ronald Brownstein, CNN
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