The following is a guest post from Pam Fessler:

Brad Raffensperger – famous for rebuffing Trump’s call to “find” him 11,780 votes in 2020 – might have won the Republican primary for GA secretary of state.  But the effort to undermine public confidence in elections is alive and well. When it looked like GA Gov. Brian Kemp would beat Trump pick David Perdue in the primary by a whopping 50 percentage points, election deniers in Pennsylvania went on high alert. “Georgia Grassroots get mobilized…. No freaking way! Pennsylvania is behind you!! Expose the fraud!!,” posted Audit the Vote PA, a group still trying to “decertify” the 2020 presidential results.  And whose candidate, Doug Mastriano, won the GOP primary for PA governor primarily on his false claims that the last election was stolen. 

What does this mean for election officials? It means they still face a huge challenge convincing a chunk of the American electorate that our elections are fair, accurate and run by people they can trust. I’ve written a new communication guide with The Elections Group called “Telling Our Story,” which we hope will help them do that. It includes tips on working with the media (hint: they’re not the enemy), educating voters, using social media, fighting disinformation and – most important of all – promoting the U.S. election system and the people who make it work.

We remind election officials they have a great story to tell and encourage them to tell it from the heart. Despite its flaws, we have one of the best voting systems in the world. Americans should be proud, instead of threatening to kill those who administer it because they don’t like the results. The guide recognizes the need to counter disinformation with the facts.  But it also recommends appealing to Americans’ sense of patriotism and desire to have the freedom to choose their leaders. “The other side is tapping into the fear emotion. We need to tap into the patriotic, pride emotion,” says former VA Election Commissioner Chris Piper. We suggest that election officials tell personal stories, humanizing the process and reminding voters that elections are run by their neighbors and friends.

This guide draws on good work already taking place in election offices around the country. We link to best practices and examples of innovative communications techniques.  Unfortunately, too many local election officials are overworked, under-resourced and, after 2020, shellshocked. They still do little more than engage with voters on the basics, such as where, how and when to vote. Surprisingly few use social media, despite the fact that it’s where the conspiracy theories and lies are allowed to thrive.

That’s one reason we changed the working title from “Telling Your Story” to “Telling Our Story.” Civic groups, businesses, faith leaders, and others need to rally around election officials and help them communicate the truth. Among other things, we link to advice from the National Conference of State Legislatures to lawmakers – some of whom have been at the forefront of election denialism – on how they too can help counter election disinformation and public confusion. This is a job for all of us.  Maybe someone can sponsor a national ad campaign to celebrate election workers, the way airlines promote flight attendants and drug companies promote nurses and doctors. 

We designed the guide as a “living document,” to be updated as needed. Many people are trying desperately now to figure out how to protect democracy from those trying to destroy it. Hopefully, that effort will produce more, good ideas on shifting the narrative. We’re happy to pass those ideas along. 

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