Press Releases
01/05/2022
Secretary Merrill Statement on the One Year Anniversary of the January 6th Violent Insurrection in Washington, D.C.
“For nearly 250 years, American democracy has been marked by the peaceful transfer of power. In election after election, regardless of party or result, the losers of elections have ceded their offices to the winners. Love for America and our democracy requires respect for election results, even when they don’t go the way some voters want.
One year ago, un-American insurrectionists stormed the United States Capitol and trod on our peaceful democratic traditions in an attempt to overturn the results of the election and seize control of the United States government. The legacy of this attempted coup, incited by Donald Trump, is a direct attack on the pillars of our democracy – including our elections and the free press. We will all remember where we were on January 6, 2021, and it will live in our memories as a violent threat to democracy.
The insurrection was just the beginning of the threats of violence. The lie that the election was stolen has been repeated over and over again. State and local election officials, particularly in the critical swing states have been threatened. For the last year, election workers have looked on in horror at the stories our colleagues have told of harassment and threats. Just in the last week, an investigation has shown that threats on Facebook have become commonplace, many of them aimed at local and state election officials, even threatening the deaths of individuals who administer elections. The 2020 election was held in exactly the same way with the same checks and balances that we have always used, carried out by literally thousands of patriotic Americans of both political parties who helped voters safely and securely cast their ballots. No election worker or volunteer should ever feel threatened because they carried out their constitutional duty to hold a free and fair election. Every election will now be challenged, with the losers aware that the election can be questioned without even a shred of evidence of wrongdoing.
The story of American democracy has always been the story of fighting to ensure that every American is able to cast their ballot and have it counted in a free and fair election. The coup attempt on January 6 tried to undo that history, and has opened the door to grifters, charlatans, and frauds who have directly attacked Americans’ faith in their elections for their own gain, political or otherwise. Every American patriot must recommit their efforts to rebuilding that faith, to supporting the election workers and volunteers whose hard work make our elections possible, and to protecting our fragile democracy.”
- Secretary of the State Denise Merrill
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