LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Former Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and former Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins will work to ensure public confidence in elections as part of a nationwide group with chapters in key swing states.
The Democracy Defense Project is a bipartisan organization that aims to bolster confidence in elections across the country, despite widespread reported distrust of voting integrity.
"An erosion of faith in our democracy, and the proliferation of politicians undermining election integrity to bolster their own campaign, reputation, or party’s influence have caused false narratives about “stolen elections” to take root," the group says on its website. "The mistrust that many voters have for our electoral system puts our democracy at grave risk."
Sandoval and Perkins join a bipartisan group of leaders in other states, including former Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer; former Georgia Govs. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, and Nathan Deal, a Republican; former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell; former Republican New Hampshire U.S. Sen. John Sununu; ex-Pennsylvania House Speaker Keith McCall; and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a Republican.
The group touts its mission as increasing confidence in elections, getting more people to vote and combating election misinformation.
It will have its work cut out for it on that last point.
The Public Affairs Council published a poll in October that showed just 37% of Americans believe the 2024 election will be "honest and open." A July 2023 poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that Republicans, especially, had low confidence in election integrity. A 2022 Gallup poll found similar results.
Those results are fed, in part, by claims made by former President Donald Trump that the 2020 election was stolen and his refusal in the June 27 debate to explicitly say he will accept the results of the 2024 election.
Despite scores of lawsuits filed across the country challenging election results and procedures, no evidence emerged of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. And government authorities, from former Attorney General William Barr to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency,have declared the election was accurate. (The latter labeled the 2020 election "the most secure in American history.")
The Democracy Defense Project says it will target misinformation about the election when it arises.
"We will publicly defend those who have sworn to uphold the rule of law and to be an active voice against any individual or organization that would look to undermine lawful election processes and outcomes," the site says. "It is time for those who know better to speak up and that’s what DDP will do."
In an interview with Channel 13 Tuesday, Perkins said he worries the net effect of election-rigging rhetoric is that voter turnout will be depressed, as more people believe their votes will not count. That's one of the main problems the group intends to confront, he said.
"I believe in our elections, I believe in our state, I believe in our democracy, and I want to make sure the voters do, too," he said. "We have to have a country where people participate in elections."
In addition to the Democracy Defense Project, other Nevada elected officials have joined with a group called Democracy First, a nationwide organization that asks politicians and citizens to sign a promise to participate in elections.
The group includes Democratic Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, Republican Las Vegas Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, as well as ex-Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, former GOP Rep. Cresent Hardy, former Republican National Committeeman Joe W. Brown, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, Democratic Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager and former Republican Gov. Robert List.
"Dangerous anti-democracy rhetoric has significantly weakened confidence — in the United States and around the world — in the values, processes, and institutions that keep our country prosperous and safe," said Democracy First in a statement. "In 2024, candidates for public office must commit to restoring faith and preserving our constitutional republic, no matter their ideological differences."
The group's promise includes four principles:
- Support every eligible American citizen's right to vote in free and fair elections.
- Denounce political violence against opponents, their supporters and elections workers.
- Don't propagate falsehoods and misinformation about the elections process.
- Accept and certify the final election outcome after the votes are counted and support the peaceful transfer of power.
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