The recent Hungarian election – in which autocrat Viktor Orbán quickly accepted his defeat in a very high turnout election – bears this out.
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Fighting the tendency of voters to abstain is crucial.
An intentional side effect of electoral subversion is to convince voters that the system is so rigged that they should not bother to show up.
Large numbers of legal observers and litigators will be needed this fall. In Venezuela, María Corina Machado’s strategy to defeat Maduro involved maximizing polling centers with election watchers.
Pro-democracy groups must begin scenario planning and training early. Response plans need to be based on local threats.
Civil society must prepare for “red line” moments. The people of Minnesota demonstrated this when thousands of federal agents were deployed.
Community, labor, and faith organizations organized a general strike and march of 75,000 people, leading to the withdrawal of federal forces.
There must be strong collaboration between pro-democracy groups and government officials working to ensure free and fair elections.
Election administration officials need support.
The pro-democracy coalition needs to expand its tent. This requires establishing cross-sector relationships with higher education, legal advocacy, business, and faith organizations.
None of this is easy – and there’s not much time before the election.
The administration and aligned election interferers are using their resources to sow confusion, exhaustion and despair.
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It’s up to the pro-democracy movement to respond with strategic organizing, savvy coalition-building, and commitment to ensure every vote counts.
