next election. across the country republicans are passing election laws that make it harder to vote. threatening election workers with criminal penalties and tearing down guardrails in key states that kept trump s big lie from succeeding. we ll tell you what these voting changes are broadly and specifically in three key states, the direct impact on the 2022 mid-term elections and ultimately how america is governed and by whom. record voter turnout this year with over 100 million ballots cast before voting even started this morning. look at turnout everywhere in america. this is a good thing, whether you re a democrat, republican, or independent. the 2020 election had the highest turnout in american history despite coming at the height of the pandemic. local governments came up with creative ways to make it easier to vote like expanding vote by
legislatures are trying to stop that participation. what might it mean for future elections? do you believe that the 2020 election here in georgia was free and fair? i believe that a lot of georgians have concerns that there were issues with it. trump is now even warning republicans won t vote until laws that protected against his election conspiracies are changed. our democracy is in danger. we are in peril right now. my fear is that 2020 was not the low point for democracy but a dress rehearsal for things to come. now a cnn special report. stop the vote: the big lie s assault on democracy. conspiracies about voting in 2020 are not just a hangover from the last presidential election. the lies are being used by gop legislators and governors to justify voting changes for the
threaten election workers with criminal penalties, and tear down guardrails in key states that kept doesn t s big lie from succeeding. over the next hour we re tell you what these voting changes are broadly and specifically in three key states, the direct impact on the 2022 midterm elections, and ultimately how america is governed and by whom. record voter turnout this year with over 100 million ballots cast before voting even started this morning. look at turnout everywhere in america. this is a good thing, whether you re a democrat, republican, or independent. the 2020 election had the highest turnout in american history despite coming at the height of the pandemic. local governments came up with creative ways to make it easier to vote like expanding vote by mail and adding drop boxes. the ballot drop boxes are filling up so quick, elections officials say they can t empty them out fast enough. and drive-through voting.
all making moves, all meeting with donors or visiting iowa. there s a dozen other people you can add to that list as well. right now the president says he s not worried about any of that group. i think, you know, at the current status, it s unlikely any of those people would be able to make the argument which basically is the only way to beat former president trump in a primary, which is that president trump is a great guy, we love what he did the last four years but he s just not the best person to represent the party in 2024, he ll lose it for us. in a different environment, you could make that environment. after the midterms, that could change. the party has so fully embraced him at this point. moving on to a general election matchup, you re talking a guy who lost by 7 million votes. how do you see a trump campaign dovetailing with all these voting changes, state
it s a real dichotomy, george. some republican analysts are saying between the rank and file republican voters and the elected local party officials who are driving these voting changes and the legislature after legislature trying to invalidate elections in arizona and now they moved on to pennsylvania. the other day and the other night there was an opthalmologist doctor from new hampshire who is going to quit as well or he will change parties because in the republican legislature he s been denied any committee access because he came out in favor of vaccines and against their ban on mandates. he s a physician, and is thinking about his patients, and so he s out as a republican. for a large number of americans now, particularly americans active in politics, their happiness is defined as the unhappiness of the other