Friend, 

Want to understand the GOP right now? I’ve got a term that perfectly describes what's happening to statewide elections all across the country. Grab your dictionary, get a sticky note, and look up the Election Conspiracy Paradox. It isn’t in any dictionary, but it should be now:

Election Conspiracy Paradox 

Abbreviation: “ECP”

1. When a conspiratorial belief in a network of officials focused on rigging elections for partisan gain leads to the actual creation of a network of officials focused on rigging elections for partisan gain.
2. A term used to describe a widely held belief system in the current United States Republican Party.

Politico just investigated a series of leaked tapes straight from the RNC. No surprise: the Election Conspiracy Paradox will be on full display during the upcoming election. Here’s their plan:

• On Election Day, an “army” of election conspiracy theorists will be serving as poll watchers in precincts around the country, challenging every vote that they find disagreeable.
• These poll watchers will be communicating with GOP attorneys via a specially designed messaging app to streamline false claims of voter fraud.
• The GOP attorneys will then bring these claims to a network of established “party-friendly” district attorneys in order to block vote counts.

Friend, this isn't a conspiracy, this is actually happening. The GOP has already recruited thousands of volunteers to serve as “poll watchers” around the country  (why do you think they’re making it easier for them to open-carry guns in polling centers?) And from the actual ballot box to statewide election officials, we know they’re trying to install extremists into every facet of our election administration process. 

We know this will cause absolute chaos on election day. Countless false claims of voter fraud and politically motivated district attorneys blocking election counts across the county. A vast network of actors trying to undermine free and fair elections, everyone one of them motivated by the Big Lie of the 2020 election. 

The Election Conspiracy Paradox is here, Friend. It’s been a tried and true method for authoritarians, and it has been a death blow to democracies around the world. The GOP is trying to use it to defeat American democracy. But we’re not going to let that happen. The Lincoln Project is watching this lunacy, and we’re fighting back. Donate now to help us fight the pro-democracy battle in states across the country. 

-Reed Galen