Top Democrats simulate election threats as Trump continues assault on voting
Chuck Schumer and other senators took part in exercises in which legal experts laid out election disruption scenarios In a Washington DC conference room last month, some of the most senior Democrats in the US Senate gathered to plan for a prospect that only recently would have felt more attune to science fiction: they started to wargame democracy. Chuck Schumer, the US Senate minority leader, and…
Democratic leaders in the Senate recently engaged in simulation exercises to prepare for potential threats to elections, such as the use of deepfake videos, death threats against election workers, and armed men appearing at polling stations. These exercises, which included legal experts and other stakeholders, were aimed at identifying gaps and strengthening coordination to increase preparedness.
Despite Trump's recent false claims of a stolen 2020 election and calls for federal oversight, Democratic leaders remain confident in the resilience of the US democratic system. However, the possibility of misinformation and more extreme scenarios, including direct interference, remains a concern. Senators contemplated responses to threats such as withholding OMB funding for states that don't submit voter rolls, FCC action against news outlets covering deepfakes, and more extreme scenarios involving armed vigilantes at ballot drop boxes.
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