The 2020 election presented a unique opportunity for one political party to overpower the U.S. election process and ride a wave of voting “irregularities” straight to the Oval Office. In 2024, Republicans are addressing each “irregularity” in turn, hoping to avoid the opportunistic mistakes that arguably cost former President Donald Trump the White House in 2020. 

Republicans have challenged election rules in swing states nationwide, focusing on proof-of-citizenship requirements and mail-in ballot deadlines. Meanwhile, Democrats, terrified that their advantage is slipping, have proactively created funding to defend secretaries of state from legal action following the 2024 election.  

It’s almost as if Democrats are anticipating that their cheating efforts will be exposed in real time. 

One of the most disputed factors in the last election was the influx of mail-in ballots, very few of which were verified before being tossed into Biden’s pile. In 2020, this sudden increase in mail-in and absentee voting during the pandemic led to many lawsuits from Trump and Republicans, who questioned the election results. 

This election cycle, Trump is telling Republicans to use mail-in voting, even while criticizing it. 

At a rally in Pennsylvania in July, he said, “The mail-in voting isn’t working. It’s corrupt. But until then, Republicans must win.” 

The RNC has filed two lawsuits against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson regarding absentee ballots. The first lawsuit challenges her guidance that election officials should label ballots without stubs as “challenged” instead of rejecting them outright. 

The second lawsuit is about signature verification. The RNC claims some local clerks are not following a state law that requires them to mark absentee ballot envelopes when they approve them for counting. 

Republicans have also filed similar lawsuits in other key states like North Carolina, where the RNC is contesting guidance from the state election board that allows counting absentee ballots even if their envelopes don’t meet specific standards. 

In Pennsylvania, mail-in envelopes have also become controversial. A group of voting rights organizations sued to challenge a state law that rejects ballots with incorrect or missing envelope dates. State officials noted that about 10,500 ballots were rejected for this reason in the 2022 midterms. 

Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to dismiss the challenge, saying the lower court didn’t have the authority because the lawsuit didn’t name all 67 county election boards as defendants. 

Conservatives have made proof-of-citizenship requirements a significant issue in this election cycle, both in the courts and Congress. In Nevada, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar (D) earlier this month, claiming he didn’t remove over 6,000 noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls. They are asking a state judge to require Aguilar to confirm that all registered voters are citizens before the November election and to check Nevada’s voter rolls regularly.  

In Arizona, where voters must show proof of citizenship to vote in state elections, the Democratic secretary of state recently found that 97,928 registered voters had been “incorrectly” thought to have provided proof of citizenship. 

In Georgia, the State Election Board faces a lawsuit from Democrats challenging recent state election certification rule changes. Just weeks before Election Day, the board approved new rules that require local election boards to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying the results. The rules state that investigations must happen if problems are found at a polling place. If a serious error is discovered, it will be up to the local boards to decide how to count the votes fairly. 

Of course, Democrats rely on “problems at the polling place” and are suing, claiming the changes could “confuse election workers” and delay the certification of results. 

A handful of state secretaries who refused to investigate multiple fraud claims were at the heart of the stolen 2020 election. A Democratic group is starting a legal fund to help secretaries of state in swing states defend against the many lawsuits expected after the election. 

The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State plans to spend at least $5 million to support top election officials in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, and Nevada. The group has been working to elect Democratic secretaries of state and previously provided funds to Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in 2022 to help with post-election lawsuits. 

Shoring up the defense of state secretaries indicates that Democrats worry the nation is paying more attention this election cycle. A summer Rasmussen poll found that 62% of Americans expect widespread cheating in November. Both Democrats and Republicans are fighting another stolen election. The difference is that Democrats are fighting to make it easier.