Voting Rights Group Unveils New Tool Aimed at Identifying Election Deniers (Exclusive)

The voting rights organization Public Wise is set to unveil its latest project on Friday: a database that profiles local officials in Arizona who, they say, are election deniers. 

It’s called the “Election Threat Index,” and according to the group's findings, more than 50% of Arizona constituents are represented by someone in the state legislature who they classify as an election denier. Public Wise plans to expand the Index into other states in coming months.

"The Election Threat Index is designed to identify local and state level officials, examine how their actions in office impact democracy, and work with grassroots partners to hold these individuals accountable, combat their attempts at voter suppression and elect pro-democracy candidates," Public Wise said in a release about the new database.

“It's a state that has a lot of experience in what can happen when election deniers are given power and authority to use taxpayer resources,” Public Wise Executive Director Christina Baal-Owens told The Messenger, referring to the extensive legal battle and audit over the state’s gubernatorial election results in 2022. 

Despite losing to now-Gov. Katie Hobbs, then-Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake attributed her loss to “engineered” Election Day “chaos” in Maricopa County. However, Lake lost her battle in court and her legal team was eventually ordered to pay more than $100,000 in sanctions after the lawsuit was deemed “frivolous.” 

Still, Lake’s pushback of the election results echoed the efforts of former President Donald Trump, who after losing the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden, continuously referred to the election process as “rigged.” 

Now, according to Baal-Owens, election denialism is becoming more common in local elections.

The online database launched on Friday details nearly 40 individuals who serve in various Arizona public offices, including the state legislature, but Baal-Owens said that many election deniers are “hidden in plain sight,” adding that some “run unopposed or are, in different states, appointed, but have an outsized amount of power.” 

The index is designed to be an educational tool for voters and grassroots organizations alike, she said. Although it currently focuses on Arizona, the group said it plans to expand its efforts to Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, and Nevada in the coming months. 

The tool is the second phase of the organization’s efforts to track and hold leaders accountable. They previously launched “The Insurrection Index,” which according to the group is “an online database identifying all individuals and organizations in a position of public trust who participated, planned or promoted January 6th.” 

“For us, this was a natural extension of that,” Baal-Owens said of the Election Threat Index, adding that the Insurrection Index focused more on politics and campaigns, while the Election Threat Index is aimed at looking at governance.

“We really wanted to look at … what folks are able to do once they're in office and what that threat is,” Baal-Owens said. “In the Election Threat Index, there's such hyper-local offices, that people may not even know that you vote for those folks, and have no idea what the jurisdiction is.” 

Additionally, the group said in a statement that it found that “21% of election deniers in AZ introduced legislation to limit voting access,” “18% of election deniers in AZ introduced legislation to change how votes are counted,” and “26% of election deniers in AZ introduced legislation to change the control of election results.”  

“Our democracy and our elections are the most vulnerable at the grassroots level, where races face less scrutiny and competition. After struggling at the national level, election deniers are taking the fight to our local communities,” Baal-Owens said in a statement provided to The Messenger ahead of the index’s release. 

“Our democracy doesn’t begin or end in Congress or in the White House; its fate will be determined in our communities, by our school boards, our state representatives, our sheriffs. The Election Threat Index is designed to identify these officials and understand the impact election deniers have on our right to vote and the future of our democracy. The next phase of the election denier movement is here and we’re fighting back to protect our democracy and our fundamental freedoms,” her statement continued.  

Correction: This story previously reported that Public Wise is a Democratic-leaning organization, but the group that published the Election Threat Index is the nonpartisan arm of their political organization.