The threats and attacks on the nation’s election officials are reminiscent of criticism and attacks against football or basketball referees. In both cases there are highly partisan fans who are only focused on victory for their team in a total zero-sum environment. Fans, players, and coaches all want all the calls to go their way and become very agitated if the other team appears to gain advantage from the calls—after all, it is all about winning.
During the game, it is normal for both teams to be unhappy and complain about calls. After the game, when the outcome has been decided, it is only the losing team and their fans who continue to complain- and even challenge the outcome and make accusations of favoritism or corruption. Instead of attributing a loss to a dropped pass, a missed bucket, or poor decision making on the part of their team; they place blame on others- the officials. In recent years this same pattern has emerged in elections when a losing party cannot accept the outcome or responsibility for the outcome of an election.
This type of blame and criticism of officials cuts directly to the legitimacy of the sport and institution. This is why sports leagues have rules against public criticism of officiating and levy hefty fines on those players, coaches and owners who make such accusations. This does not mean that the leagues consider their officiating perfect and above making mistakes. It is a recognition that, while the officials are highly trained, skilled, and honest, mistakes can still be made and there must be systems and processes in place to address shortcomings both in the moment and in the future. Instant replay, challenges, video review, post game analyses, and rule revisions are all mechanisms to manage the inevitable missed or blown call. Rarely, if ever, is an official summarily dismissed for a blown call.
Criticism of election officials similarly strikes at the foundation of our democratic institutions and undermines the legitimacy of elected leaders and the process that elected them. The threats, harassment, and challenges to individual integrity are manifestations that losers cannot accept responsibility for their loss and feel compelled to irrationally externalize blame. However, as in sports, in election laws and regulations there are mechanisms and processes to catch, quantify and often correct errors if any have been made- recounts, audits, election challenges, etc.
What is different, however, between sports and elections is that losers and, other actors representing them, have the ability to thwart, mitigate, by-pass, interrupt, and legally challenge these safeguards. A classic example of this is the Bush-Gore challenge to Florida’s 2000 election. Legal maneuvering and court challenges (by both parties) truncated the recount safeguards in Florida which were expected to settle this type of controversy. To this day no one knows what the result of a recount may have been. The nation and the field of election administration is still suffering from this blow to the legitimacy of the 2000 election.
After the 2020 election and after the exercise of the safeguards of recounts, audits, and legal challenges; losers continue deny their loss. This is no more rational than my loser’s assertion that the Seahawks really did beat the Steelers in Superbowl XL despite the referee missing an pass interference call in the end zone. The pain of losing, especially when one is so invested, is intense but does not justify attacking, undermining, and compromising democratic institutions to avoid future loses.
The country’s election administrators are highly trained, knowledgeable, committed, and can be trusted. This does not mean they are perfect and never make mistakes. That is why there are processes in statute and regulation to identify and correct discrepancies that should always play out without interference.
Most who continue to challenge election officials and the results of the 2020 election know better. It is just too easy to gain short term political advantage by continuing the dangerous charade. It is more than ironic, hypocrisy at its core actually, for those who were elected in 2020 and who are currently serving to brand the 2020 election as fraudulent. If it was fraudulent for one office, it was fraudulent for all of them.
It is time for leaders at all levels to stop putting party before country. It is time to stop burning down the house because of delicate egos. It is time to publicly support and not vilify election processes and officials. The country needs the continued service of its qualified, unbiased, and competent election officials.
NBA playoffs in which players call their own fouls will draw little public interest. Super Bowls in which one team hires and controls the referees would not be the celebration it is now. Those with a stake in the leagues understand this. That is why coaches, players and owners are heavily fined when they attack their institution.
Those with a stake in democracy need to similarly call out and penalize those who attack the institution.
Election Administration Theories and Praxis 