Americans face unprecedented barriers to having their voices heard in the upcoming 2022 and 2024 elections, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said on Wednesday.
In a panel at the Reuters Next conference, Griswold warned of multiple dangers to democracy in the United States, including bills designed to suppress voting, death threats against election officials and mistruths perpetuated by politicians both nationally and on a state level.
Democrats and Republicans are battling for control of the U.S. Congress next year and the presidency in 2024. Democrats hold a slim majority in the House of Representatives now and control in the divided Senate through Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote.
“Warning lights are blinking red. We are seeing January 6, the attempted stealing of an American presidency, just in slow motion right now,” Griswold, a Democrat, said.
“What we’re seeing right now is no longer about 2020. It’s about 2022 and 2024, making what was attempted on January 6 more feasible the next time around. So I believe we are at an incredibly urgent time in terms of things that we have to do, that we must do,” she said.
Former President Donald Trump has claimed, falsely, that the result of the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, and urged a group of loyalists to march on the U.S. Capitol after a rally on Jan. 6. His supporters did so, invading the Capitol, leading to five deaths.