ABSTRACT
Elections are a hallmark of American democracy. They are the method by which we choose our representatives. They have long been a source of national pride. And yet they are susceptible to multiple threats. This chapter discusses three ways of addressing how to talk about such threats without making them worse. Namely, limiting the repetition of false allegations of “rigged” contests, mentioning both threats and solutions to those threats in news coverage and social media posts, and reminding voters of their agency in the story of American elections all have promising effects when discussing potential dangers facing elections. My argument is that voting is too often taken for granted and that voters – the people who superintend this fragile kind of governance – are too often ignored or taken for granted. We should pay voters more respect. Democracy depends on that respect.
