A vote for election deniers is a vote against democracy

In the last two presidential election years, there has been an increase in election deniers. In 2016 several Democrats felt that Hillary Clinton lost because of Russia’s attempted interference in the election. In 2020 many Republicans believed that the presidential election was rife with fraud and illegalities that influenced the outcome.

Christopher Krebs, director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cyber security and Infrastructure Security Agency all four years under the Trump administration, said in a statement shortly after the 2020 election, "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised." For that statement he was fired.

Stacey Abrams, the current Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Georgia, who lost the same election four years ago, would never consider admitting defeat. She didn’t declare the election was stolen, but felt there were significant irregularities, which were never proven.

Here are the facts! In both election cycles, there were very minimal mistakes. We know this because when elections are challenged, there is system in place to double check the result.

In all elections we see some illegalities. They are so small that they never affect the outcome. So what has caused this fervent increase in complaints that elections are fraudulent?

The reasons are many, but at the core are people want to win so bad, that they will do anything to make the results favorable in their direction. Gone are the days of gracious concession speeches by the losers. Gone are the days when Americans trusted the outcome because we all believed in the integrity of the election process.

What is now making it even worse is some candidates are saying if they lose their election, then somehow it is fraudulent. Imagine if two sports teams were going to play each other and before the game begins, one of the teams says if they win it is legitimate, but if they lose it is fixed. Do we see how crazy that thinking is?

In addition, recent news has said that 1 in 5 poll workers have quit because of harassment and even death threats. The head of Dominion Voting Systems, the organization that was heavily criticized for alleged voting irregularities, said recently on 60 Minutes, that he and his employees feel totally unsafe because of death threats. By the way investigations found zero evidence of wrongdoing by Dominion.

There are numerous political issues that are important to me. But as of this election, the most important one is to not vote for people who are election deniers? The reason is not too complex. If we don’t have a democracy, then we will become a dictatorial state. In other words, people, especially those in power, can arbitrarily deny the outcome if unfavorable and declare themselves the winner.

This is what happens in non democratic countries. The person in leadership, declares that he or she has won the election regardless of the votes and ultimately gets rid of the democratic system in the process. You see that in places like Russia as an example.

In another poll that just came out, roughly 80% of both major parties feel that if the other party wins, then this is the end of America as we know it. This is the end of America as we know it! Please!! There has been raucous debate about policies since the inception of our Republic, and guess what, America’s democracy is sound! The exception is if a new round of election deniers, in either party, gets elected, then it is theoretically possible that our democracy ceases to be one.

As a Christian, our main goal is to get facts and truth by diligent research from several different sources and then to unashamedly publish that information. Second, we need to be people of love and reconciliation, and be champions of peace between “warring parties.”

Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5:19-20, “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, ‘Be reconciled to God!’”

To encourage people to be reconciled to God, they need to see in us a willingness to speak truth and to show that as people we care about them. When lies about elections come up, believers have to be armed with research that shows the absurdity of that position. In addition we need to say that election denying is at the heart of destroying democracy.

So Christian, don’t be afraid to take a right position. Jesus wouldn’t and so we shouldn’t either.