Valuing the Vote

As attention shifts toward GOP presidential candidates for the 2024 Presidential Election, the Democratic Party prepares for the next election cycle with some interesting voting initiatives set to affect election centers across the nation.

On August 17, headlines broke news of a new organization reportedly started by the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State called Value the Vote. The organization aims to ensure safe voting areas with hired private security. 

The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State has entrenched the initiative in $10 million to “pay for private security for election officials of both parties, register new voters and try to combat disinformation,” according to The New York Times. 

Value the Vote is first setting its sights on key battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin. 

However, many have voiced their concern over the investment of private security for anything election-related. Since Value the Vote is mainly Democratically-funded, there is a major concern partisan ideology could cause partisan security for election officials. 

Per The New York Times, Travis Brimm, the executive director of the organization, claimed Value the Vote was motivated by keeping election officials safe while working: “‘They deserve the ability and the right to feel safe while they’re doing their job.’” 

Brimm continued by citing how election officials have ‘“come under threat while they’re just trying to do their jobs, and they’re doing a fantastic job.’”

The New York Times echoed Brimm’s sentiment, blaming Republicans for threatening elections and the voting process: “Election officials have faced increased threats in recent years, and they have been resigning at an alarming rate. Elections for secretary of state also became far more politicized last year, as several Republicans who denied the legitimacy of the 2020 vote sought the office in critical battleground states before ultimately falling short.”

The Federalist states the move made by the Democratically-backed organization could be an attempt in a continued narrative of discouraging conservatives from having any form of electoral oversight: 

“As indicated by The Times, the founding of Value the Vote is based on the debunked lie that there is a growing, widespread problem of Republicans threatening election workers across the country.

“…the lack of evidence to support such an assertion hasn’t stopped legacy media from regurgitating their Democrat allies’ phony narratives in order to paint Republican voters as extremists and dissuade conservatives from partaking in legitimate forms of electoral oversight.” 

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow with the Heritage Foundation, is just one of many Americans who have voiced concern about the legality of this organization. 

“Von Spakovsky further contended the stationing of private security guards at election offices and polling sites could constitute a violation of section 11(b) of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which states that no one ‘shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce,’ any individual who is ‘voting or attempting to vote’ or ‘urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote,’” according to The Federalist.

With Value the Vote’s push for increased election security, one can only recall the iron fist totalitarian regimes have around their own election systems and voting booths. For if the election was secure, why would hired security be needed, if not to possibly influence a certain outcome?