As our country faces one of the most divisive elections of our time, there’s no question that democracy is on the ballot this year—but it won’t be decided by the presidential race alone. This election cycle, the future of our democracy is in the hands of state legislatures.
No matter who our next president is, we can expect growing threats to our democratic system. If former President Donald Trump wins, we should be prepared for him to empower right-wing extremists in his administration and around the country in state capitals, attempting to deconstruct our democracy as we know it. Meanwhile, even if President Biden wins re-election, we know from experience that Trump will likely declare himself the victor, spread lies about election fraud, and potentially incite more violence.