Final voting began Tuesday morning in a midterm election where voting itself has been in the spotlight after two years of false claims and conspiracy theories about how ballots are cast and counted.
Since the last nationwide election in 2020, former President Donald Trump and his allies have succeeded in sowing wide distrust about voting by promoting false claims of widespread fraud. The effort has eroded public confidence in elections and democracy, led to restrictions on mail voting and new ID requirements in some GOP-led states, and prompted death threats against election officials.
Election Day this year is marked by concerns about further harassment and the potential for disruptions at polling places and at election offices where ballots will be tallied. Election officials say they are prepared to handle any issues that arise, urging voters not to be deterred.
"This bipartisan, transparent process administered by election professionals across the country will be secure, it will be accurate, and it will have integrity," said Matt Masterson, a former top election security official in the Trump administration, at a briefing organized by The Aspen Institute. "The best response for all of us is to get out and participate in it."
2022 Election: Which states allow early processing, counting of ballots
Even before the pandemic, many states had begun to shift away from a single day of voting to offer days or weeks of early, in-person voting and ballots sent through the mail.
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