Soft Psychological Warfare and Election Interference

100% legal threat to democracy

The threat to democracy through election interference is obvious. We hear about it constantly from both political parties. Essentially, it means adding or removing votes in violation of established laws and election norms. This could include universal mail-in ballots, ballot disqualification, or extending voting rights to felons and illegal aliens. Any action taken with the intent to benefit one party over another should be suspect. And it should be challenged. We must maintain the integrity of our elections, or we lose our democracy.

What about soft election interference? I’m referring to the psychological manipulation of elections, using tools that violate no laws and that can be employed in plain sight—the plainer the better. These methods derive their power from an ability to capture the voting population and change its behavior with the acceptance and complicity of the voter himself. This is a form of soft psychological warfare that has the potential to do far more damage to the integrity of our elections than blatant ballot box stuffing and voter disenfranchisement.