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The democratic process defines who we are as Americans. Free and fair elections ensure that our elected leaders remain accountable to we the people.
One year ago on Jan. 6, 2021, a violent crowd attacked the U.S. Capitol to attempt to stop the legal certification of a democratic election. They did so because a sitting president and allies in his party encouraged a lie that the election was fraudulent. It was a shocking wake-up call at the damage political disinformation can do to our very democracy.
President Trump is no longer in office, but this big lie continues to live and breathe. Across the country, Republican lawmakers have worked to restrict voting rights, including here in Minnesota, despite high levels of participation and confidence in the security of elections in our state. Last month, none of the five Republican candidates for MN governor would affirm that Joe Biden fairly won the 2020 presidential election. This is radical, alarming, and entirely unrepresentative of the reasonable people of this state.
Here in Rochester, what is my senator, Carla Nelson, doing about this threat? Has she ever stood against her colleagues attempting to subvert our democracy? It is easy to condemn the violent acts of a few, but much harder to condemn the widespread disinformation that Republican leaders have sowed for their own political gain.
Her silence is a statement.
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Pernell Meier, Rochester
