JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Election Day is less than two weeks away, and no matter what happens on November 5, Republicans and Democrats are preparing for a lengthy battle over the results. Already, there have been dozens and dozens of lawsuits filed that challenge how elections are run in this country, and many Americans have already voted. Here to walk us through what could happen next month and into the new year is Jessica Marsden, director of impact programs for free and fair elections at Protect Democracy. Jessica, welcome.
JESSICA MARSDEN: Thanks so much for having me.
SUMMERS: Jessica, I just want to start with the fact that there are already a number of lawsuits and legal issues that have been filed, and we haven't even gotten to Election Day yet. What can you tell us about what we know about them? What kinds of themes are emerging?
MARSDEN: Yeah. These last-minute challenges hit on a few themes. One is we've seen a number of suits from the RNC and affiliated conservative organizations challenging voter eligibility, saying, in essence, that there are a number - thousands, in some cases - of voters who are registered to vote who shouldn't be, whether that be because they are noncitizens or there's some other issue with their eligibility. Another category of cases I'd point to has to do with overseas voting. Just in the past few weeks, we've seen cases in North Carolina, Michigan and Pennsylvania challenging those states' procedures for allowing overseas citizens, including members of the military, to participate this fall.
SUMMERS: Help us unpack the Republican strategy here and why those types of lawsuits are coming now.
MARSDEN: One strategy that may lay behind filing these lawsuits now goes back to 2020, where many of those cases were dismissed by courts because the cases were brought too late. You can't wait until after an election to challenge a voter's eligibility to cast his or her ballot. So it seems likely that, by filing some of these cases now, even though they don't stand a chance of getting relief before the election, the RNC may be readying to make some of those same arguments after the election and hoping that the existence of these earlier suits somehow helps their cause then.
SUMMERS: So we talked about some of the lawsuits that the Republican National Committee has filed, but what about the Democrats? What kind of suits have they brought?
MARSDEN: In general, the Democrats have been bringing fewer cases than the Republicans this year. And often they are intervening in cases that were initially brought by Republicans. So you do end up, you know, with the two parties on opposite sides of a lawsuit. But one unusual thing this year is that I think we've seen more of these cases coming from Republican groups.
SUMMERS: You know, I have to imagine that most voters - they don't follow the ins and outs of election and some of this litigation as closely as you and I do. But if they're hearing this conversation, they might be concerned if they've already cast a ballot or they're preparing to cast one. What would you say to people who might be feeling some of that anxiety around all of this?
MARSDEN: Yeah, that's a great question. So in many states, you can actually follow up with your local election office and see, you know, if you've cast a mail-in ballot, was it counted? Was that ballot accepted? But in general, I just remind voters that if they are closely following the instructions from their election offices, their vote's going to count.
SUMMERS: With being as close to Election Day as we are and with the fact that this is a race, by all projections, that's going to be quite close, what concerns you the most when you look at the landscape?
MARSDEN: I think the fact that we have seen close to a four-year campaign to really degrade trust in our election system and that that, you know, has led some voters to lose faith in the election process is probably my biggest concern. I'd encourage folks with questions about the trustworthiness of our election process to spend some time, you know, on the website of your local election office. You know, there are a number of really excellent election officials who are putting out good information that will walk folks through the process of how their vote gets cast and counted. That kind of information, I hope, can start to dispel some of the fear and anxiety that voters may have about this process.
SUMMERS: That was Jessica Marsden, lawyer and director of impact programs for free and fair elections at Protect Democracy. Jessica, thank you.
MARSDEN: Thanks so much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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