Written by Jeff Mason, Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Americans are facing unprecedented obstacles to making their voices heard during the 2022-2024 election cycle, Jena Griswold from Colorado said Wednesday.

In a panel at the Reuters Next conference, Griswold warned of multiple dangers to democracy in the United States, including bills designed to suppress voting https://www.reuters.com/world/us/un-expert-decries-gerrymandering-parts-us-that-denies-minority-voting-rights-2021-11-22, death threats against election officials and mistruths perpetuated by politicians both nationally and on a state level.

Republicans and Democrats will be fighting for control of Congress and the presidency next year. The Democrats have a narrow majority in Congress, but control of the Senate divided by Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote is held by Republicans.

“Warning light are flashing red. “We are witnessing January 6th, the attempted stealing an American presidency. It is happening in slow motion,” Griswold (a Democrat) said.

It’s not 2020 that we are seeing now. The future is 2022-2024. This makes what was attempted January 6, more possible. She stated that she believes we are in an extremely urgent moment when it comes to the things we need and must do.

Trump, a former President, claimed that the outcome of the 2020 election was fraudulent. He urged loyalists to march at the Capitol following a Jan. 6 rally. His supporters did so, invading the Capitol, leading to five deaths https://www.reuters.com/world/us/officer-who-responded-us-capitol-attack-is-third-die-by-suicide-2021-08-02.

James Glassman was chairman and CEO, Glassman Advisory, and was also the former Under Secretary to State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs during former President George W. Bush’s Administration.

Glassman advocated for ranked choice voting. He said that it would allow third parties “have a shot.”

Griswold called for the Senate to pass legislation, whether the Freedom to Vote Act or the “John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-democrats-return-voting-rights-with-eye-filibuster-2021-11-03,” to counter voter suppression.

The Republican opposition to both bills has fueled calls for Democrats to change a Senate rule to make it harder for minor parties to block legislation on election reform. This plan has not been adopted by Democrats.

Reuters in September reported https://www.reuters.com/world/us/backers-trumps-false-fraud-claims-seek-control-next-us-elections-2021-09-22 that a group of Republican secretary-of-state contenders in U.S. swing states have embraced Trump’s false claims that he lost a “rigged” election. These candidacies alarm Democrats as well as voting-rights organizations.

Primary elections for secretary-of-state candidates will be held next spring, summer and Nov. 8th 2022.

To watch the Reuters Next conference please register here: https://reutersevents.com/events/next