Newswise — Earlier this week, the Republican-controlled Georgia State Election Board approved a measure that gives local officials the ability to refuse or delay certification of the county’s election results.
The 2020 election provided a blueprint for casting doubt on the electoral process for losing parties in the future, according to Daniel M. Butler, a professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis. Since then, many Republican-controlled state legislatures — not just Georgia — have sought to expand their own power over elections, he said.
Earlier this year, Butler and Jeffrey J. Harden at the University of Notre Dame, proposed a solution — published in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science — that would grant independent, nonpartisan commissions the authority to certify elections, rather than partisan elected officials. Their research showed the proposed solution was favored by more than 70% of surveyed Democrats and Republicans, and would protect politicians from the pressure they could face from constituent to overturn the election.
Read the full story here: Preventing another ‘Jan. 6’ starts by changing how elections are certified
Butler is available to talk about the proposal, election certification, election intregrity and more.
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