The 2020 presidential race was polarizing, extremely partisan, and brought out a lot of voters. Along with that, it occurred during a global pandemic which necessitated the use of alternatives to traditional in-person voting. There was record voter turnout in many areas and high rates of mail-in voting. Once the results were finalized and it was clear who the next President of the United States would be, there were immediate calls of election fraud.

The GOP won in almost every race except the presidential race and the cases of fraud brought up by the previous administration were proven false. The senate was also won by the democrats due to three new senators two of which are from Georgia. These two losses signaled a decrease of power in the capitol for the GOP. Activists such as Stacey Abrams played a huge role in registering Georgia voters as well as getting the message out about how important it was to vote. There are many mechanisms in place which make it difficult for BIPOC citizens to vote and that in and of itself signals a fracture in our democratic process.

The human rights protest this summer concerning BLM is often referred to by the right as violent riots and is used as a propaganda mechanism, along with election fraud, to pass legislation which will support their return to power in the capitol. Two important pieces of legislation which you should be wary of is Georgia’s new voting law and Florida’s new law on peaceful protests. Georgia’s law has 16 provisions which the New York Times has deemed will impede on Georgians right to vote. Reducing the amount of time to request an absentee ballot, criminalizing passing out water and food to voters in line, stricter ID requirements, less drop boxes and mobile voting, as well as giving more control over the State Election Board to the Republican legislature. Areas with a higher population density (suburban and urban spaces which are usually left-leaning) will be affected the most by the law. The Republican legislature giving themselves further control over the State Election Board is a form of stealth authoritarianism. Using legal democratic processes to secure the party’s power and make it difficult for the opposition to gain a foothold is exactly what the Georgia GOP is doing. In Florida, House Bill 1 directly assaults first amendment rights. It claims to promote peaceful protests, but it is a direct response to the nation-wide protests which occurred this summer for BLM and calling for an end to police brutality. The new law will be able to imprison peaceful protesters on third-degree felony charges if the protest turns violent (even if they themselves are not). Along with this there is a piece of the bill which counter-protesters or defense vigilantes to avoid civil liability charges if they kill or injure protesters. This incentivizes violence; it allows for white supremacists or other extreme groups to attack protesters with little fear of repercussions. The bill goes a step further by protecting confederate monuments or other shrines to felony charges and disenfranchisement. These two pieces of legislation are just the beginning of Republican-run state legislatures trying to ensure they remain in power.

What is going on is not something new or incredibly shocking, it is the process of stealth authoritarianism. When a party is able to gain power and then uses their position to legally create new “democratic” processes in order to remain in power. Although the GOP no longer has full control in the capitol, state legislatures will be able to gerrymander districts and pass legislation which will eventually give them access to DC again. If you look to Orban’s government in Hungary and the Fidesz party, it is easy to draw parallels. The party came to power in 2010 and has not lost it since. Loyal members have entrenched themselves in key government institutions such as the electoral commission and used this control to maintain their regime. In 2014 the electoral commission rejected complaints about the election with little reasoning or evidence to support the decision. The Fidesz party also controls much of the media and is able to frame issues in their favor, reducing voices of dissent and minimizing loud critics of the government. These two pieces of legislation fundamentally attack American democracy. Be wary and pay close attention to state legislatures and the policies passed in the next few years because their impact will be felt in years to come. Stealth authoritarianism takes time and is usually not taken seriously until the opposition has almost no chance of regaining power. It is important to take note and bring awareness to these pieces of legislation and future ones which could impede our democracy.

The 2020 presidential race was polarizing, extremely partisan, and brought out a lot of voters. Along with that, it occurred during a global pandemic which necessitated the use of alternatives to traditional in-person voting. There was record voter turnout in many areas and high rates of mail-in voting. Once the results were finalized and it was clear who the next President of the United States would be, there were immediate calls of election fraud.

The GOP won in almost every race except the presidential race and the cases of fraud brought up by the previous administration were proven false. The senate was also won by the democrats due to three new senators two of which are from Georgia. These two losses signaled a decrease of power in the capitol for the GOP. Activists such as Stacey Abrams played a huge role in registering Georgia voters as well as getting the message out about how important it was to vote. There are many mechanisms in place which make it difficult for BIPOC citizens to vote and that in and of itself signals a fracture in our democratic process.

The human rights protest this summer concerning BLM is often referred to by the right as violent riots and is used as a propaganda mechanism, along with election fraud, to pass legislation which will support their return to power in the capitol. Two important pieces of legislation which you should be wary of is Georgia’s new voting law and Florida’s new law on peaceful protests. Georgia’s law has 16 provisions which the New York Times has deemed will impede on Georgians right to vote. Reducing the amount of time to request an absentee ballot, criminalizing passing out water and food to voters in line, stricter ID requirements, less drop boxes and mobile voting, as well as giving more control over the State Election Board to the Republican legislature. Areas with a higher population density (suburban and urban spaces which are usually left-leaning) will be affected the most by the law. The Republican legislature giving themselves further control over the State Election Board is a form of stealth authoritarianism. Using legal democratic processes to secure the party’s power and make it difficult for the opposition to gain a foothold is exactly what the Georgia GOP is doing. In Florida, House Bill 1 directly assaults first amendment rights. It claims to promote peaceful protests, but it is a direct response to the nation-wide protests which occurred this summer for BLM and calling for an end to police brutality. The new law will be able to imprison peaceful protesters on third-degree felony charges if the protest turns violent (even if they themselves are not). Along with this there is a piece of the bill which counter-protesters or defense vigilantes to avoid civil liability charges if they kill or injure protesters. This incentivizes violence; it allows for white supremacists or other extreme groups to attack protesters with little fear of repercussions. The bill goes a step further by protecting confederate monuments or other shrines to felony charges and disenfranchisement. These two pieces of legislation are just the beginning of Republican-run state legislatures trying to ensure they remain in power.

What is going on is not something new or incredibly shocking, it is the process of stealth authoritarianism. When a party is able to gain power and then uses their position to legally create new “democratic” processes in order to remain in power. Although the GOP no longer has full control in the capitol, state legislatures will be able to gerrymander districts and pass legislation which will eventually give them access to DC again. If you look to Orban’s government in Hungary and the Fidesz party, it is easy to draw parallels. The party came to power in 2010 and has not lost it since. Loyal members have entrenched themselves in key government institutions such as the electoral commission and used this control to maintain their regime. In 2014 the electoral commission rejected complaints about the election with little reasoning or evidence to support the decision. The Fidesz party also controls much of the media and is able to frame issues in their favor, reducing voices of dissent and minimizing loud critics of the government. These two pieces of legislation fundamentally attack American democracy. Be wary and pay close attention to state legislatures and the policies passed in the next few years because their impact will be felt in years to come. Stealth authoritarianism takes time and is usually not taken seriously until the opposition has almost no chance of regaining power. It is important to take note and bring awareness to these pieces of legislation and future ones which could impede our democracy.

What is going on is not something new or incredibly shocking, it is the process of stealth authoritarianism. When a party is able to gain power and then uses their position to legally create new “democratic” processes in order to remain in power. Although the GOP no longer has full control in the capitol, state legislatures will be able to gerrymander districts and pass legislation which will eventually give them access to DC again. If you look to Orban’s government in Hungary and the Fidesz party, it is easy to draw parallels. The party came to power in 2010 and has not lost it since. Loyal members have entrenched themselves in key government institutions such as the electoral commission and used this control to maintain their regime. In 2014 the electoral commission rejected complaints about the election with little reasoning or evidence to support the decision. The Fidesz party also controls much of the media and is able to frame issues in their favor, reducing voices of dissent and minimizing loud critics of the government. These two pieces of legislation fundamentally attack American democracy. Be wary and pay close attention to state legislatures and the policies passed in the next few years because their impact will be felt in years to come. Stealth authoritarianism takes time and is usually not taken seriously until the opposition has almost no chance of regaining power. It is important to take note and bring awareness to these pieces of legislation and future ones which could impede our democracy.