Coons: 2022 Elections ‘Can and Should Be Legitimate’ 

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “New Day,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) stated that President Joe Biden should “reassure the American people that our next elections can and should be legitimate and secure.”

Co-host Kasie Hunt asked, “The president yesterday, in his press conference said that without the voting rights legislation that failed last night, there are questions potentially about the legitimacy of our elections in 2022. Do you agree with that statement, or is it a dangerous one for our democracy?”

Coons responded, “Look, I frankly think we have to do everything we can to ensure that the certification of results in 2022 is not influenced by partisan actions. A bipartisan group of senators is meeting tomorrow to try and move forward a narrower bill than the one we were considering last night on the floor, an urgent and an important pair of bills that would have restored the Voting Rights Act, would have set a federal standard for access to the ballot federally. There are things we can and should do to prevent the subversion of election results. In a half-dozen states, changes have been made in terms of taking formerly nonpartisan election officials and replacing them with state legislatures or partisan officials. There are increasing threats against election workers. I think we can make progress in reforming the Electoral Count Act and adding some provisions that will protect election workers. That’s the kind of work we need to get to now. The president also said in his press conference he’s optimistic we can make some progress on that. And I do think that will contribute to addressing this vital question of whether or not our 2022 midterm elections can be made as safe and secure as possible.”

Hunt then asked, “Should the president clarify his remarks about the integrity and legitimacy of our election?”

Coons answered, “I do think that it’s important for him to embrace the forward movement that’s possible here and to reassure the American people that our next elections can and should be legitimate and secure.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett