Tag: razor-thin margin
Is Ben Wikler the Most Important Democrat in America?
The man who has been hailed as “the best state chair in the country” is not a national household name. He’s not even a household name in his own state. But on a recent afternoon in the small village of Grafton, Wisconsin, Ben Wikler might as well have been Bono.
Two dozen middle-aged and retired volunteers stood in line to clutch the hand of the chair of the Wisconsin Democrats. “Thank you for everything you do,” they said, beaming
How to Fix America’s Elections Problem
Aaron Van Langevelde was probably surprised to find himself in the middle of a battle for the future of American democracy. But at the November 23, 2020, meeting of the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, there he was. A staff attorney for the Michigan legislature’s Republican caucus, he held one of four seats on a board that, as he emphasized that day, was meant to take the certified results from each of the state’s counties, “look at the math, and
What’s at Stake for Election Workers
Poll workers serve an essential, if usually uncelebrated, role in American democracy. Organizing and tabulating is the basic business of elections. Or, it was until 2020.
When then–President Trump refused to accept his loss and spread falsehoods about a stolen election, vote-counters were among the first people to face blowback. Poll workers endured combative protestors, threats, and harassment while completing their work. In the two years since, the Big Lie has only grown more central to the Republican brand. In