When Republicans took control of the House of Representatives after the midterm elections, they promised to conduct investigations and to hold various people accountable for any alleged misdeeds and/or wrongdoing. While these investigations are important for purposes of transparency and accountability, it is unclear whether they, in and of themselves, will change public opinion and ultimately, how people vote. One thing goes without saying: Without strict election laws and procedures in place, any potential impact associated with the ongoing Republican investigations might not be reflected when all the votes are counted.
For example, House Republicans are currently conducting various investigations, including the Hunter Biden laptop story, whether Joe Biden was allegedly involved, whether the government was actively involved in censoring certain types of speech, viewpoints, and/or people on various social media platforms, and/or whether the Department of Justice has been “weaponized” and used as a tool to pursue various individuals based on political affiliation.
While the answers to these questions are crucial, and while holding those who actually engaged in wrongdoing is needed to slowly begin to restore faith in government and our justice system, it is unclear whether, and to what extent, the results of such investigations will sway public opinion at the polls. It is also unclear whether any potential shift will make a difference and/or be realized. If, for example, one investigation ultimately revealed that Joe Biden was aware of Hunter’s “dealings,” or somehow benefitted financially, would Democratic voters really care enough and vote for a Republican candidate? While some reports indicate that a percentage of voters would have changed their vote in 2020 had they known more about the Hunter Biden laptop story, it is not entirely clear whether this would have been outcome-determinative or enough to change the outcome of the election.
Moreover, if such evidence was produced, would House Republicans then impeach Biden? Would the Senate subsequently convict him? Would charges be considered, or would the argument be made that a sitting president could not face charges? That, of course, assumes that the same DOJ that some claim is politicized would even pursue Biden.
Along these same lines, if the government played an active role with one or more social media platforms in suppressing speech based on viewpoint or political affiliation, would a large swath of Democrats begin to vote for Republicans? Would Americans change the way they voted if they learned that the DOJ was abusing its power and/or utilizing its incredible influence as a weapon against individuals who align with President Trump or other Republicans? The answers to these questions are unknown.
While Republicans should undoubtedly continue to investigate and conduct hearings on these important issues, they should focus most of their attention on how to protect the nation’s elections and/or election integrity. This is especially true in Republican-led states. For example, they should make efforts to tighten laws with regard to mail-in voting, eliminate drop boxes to the extent the law allows, tighten the window as to when votes are permitted and/or counted, clean voter rolls and ensure that they are up-to-date, make sure that they have watchers in every voting area to the extent this is possible, transition to paper voting rather than machine voting, and engage in the same ground game that Democrats engage in so long as such conduct is legal. In other words, Republicans should be laser focused on passing laws to protect election integrity. These efforts should already be underway to allow enough time to withstand any potential legal challenges.
President Trump understands the importance of securing the nation’s elections. In his November speech where he announced his candidacy for reelection, Trump stated:
And of course, we will do whatever it takes to bring back honesty, confidence, and trust in our elections. To eliminate cheating I will immediately demand voter ID. Same day voting and only paper ballots, only paper ballots. France just had an election. 36 million people voted. It was all done by 10 o’clock in the evening. No complaints. You had a winner, you had a loser. The loser went home. The winner, he’s a friend of mine. Nice guy. But he was happy. But there was no complaints. And if there is a complaint, you check it out and you can fix it very easily. You can find out what’s going on. No. Paper ballots, same day voting, voter ID. So simple. And we want all votes counted by election night. They spent all of the money for machines and all of this stuff and they end up two weeks later, three weeks later. By that time, everyone forgot there was even an election. It’s horrible. And this doesn’t happen, I said it before, it doesn’t happen in third world countries. They do better than we do. It’s horrible what’s happening with our election and election process and I’ll get that job done. That’s a very personal job for me. I take that very personally. But this is just the beginning of our national greatness agenda. And that’s what we call it, a national greatness agenda. Because our country can be greater than it ever was. Our country was great. Our country’s not great anymore. Our country [is] a laughingstock right now. But our country can be greater than it ever was before by a lot.
The security of the nation’s elections and trust in the election process is crucial. Without security and confidence in the nation’s election process, the results of these investigations, and others like them, could be rendered meaningless. While some states have been proactive in this regard, other states have not. Investigations are important. They could very well sway public perception and opinion. That said, if the elections are not secured by implementing the necessary changes, any changes in voter attitude, allegiance, or preference might not be realized and reflected when all votes are finally counted.
