In April 2021, exasperated with the lawless shenanigans of the Ohio Statehouse, I got on Twitter and typed words to the effect that Columbus politicians were acting like a “Laboratory of Autocracy.”
But I never sent the tweet.
I stared at the words for a few seconds, and thought: this is bigger than a tweet.
So I deleted the draft tweet, and started writing an op-ed instead. About how statehouses were doing untold damage to democracy while everyone watched events in D.C. That statehouses were the front line in the attack on democracy, and that if we didn’t start focusing on them, the right’s attack on democracy would continue to succeed.
But the op-ed just kept getting longer. I dove deeper. Did more research. Recalled my own personal experiences in Ohio, and uncovered similar stories elsewhere. Noodled on every angle of the problem, including the law of democracy and parallels to the past. Brainstormed solutions. And I wrote it all as fast as I could. At one point, I described what I was doing to my book agent:
I have a solid book idea — non-fiction — that I think could be quite successful.
As we watch these voting rights bills [note: I clearly meant the opposite] pass around the country, and are about to watch another round of horrific gerrymandering, it’s becoming more and more clear that statehouses are [] dragging us further and further down. This will be even more relevant as we approach 2024, and the trouble they could cause.
My guess is there’s room out there for a book exposing some of the worst statehouses and all they do, and what’s driving it all. And they have gotten so ridiculous and corrupt, it could perhaps be presented in an Al Franken, edgy way. There’s not really anything out there like this. Thoughts?
And six months later—two years ago this week, in fact—I finished up that book idea, and released it into the world:
And nothing has been the same since!
The initial round of television, podcasts, radio shows and mentions was beyond what I could have imagined. The first article ran in Vanity Fair. Then came one in Salon which declared that of all the recent books on “the erosion of democracy,” “Laboratories of Autocracy stands out as arguably the most important….”
Many more followed, confirming what I had hoped—the message could cut through.
Then came an immediate response from all over the country from readers or those who’d heard those podcasts or seen those shows or whiteboards:
“I’ve been saying what you’re saying forever—no one listens!”
“What you described in Ohio is exactly what’s happening in X [State]? And no one seems to care!”
“I’m trying to do what you’re saying, but no one sees why it matters!”
On and on. I could tell I’d struck a chord.
But then I did something else as randomly as almost sending out that initial tweet. One day, I decided to explain a key part of the book through a whiteboard video. It just felt like a good way to explain something about history I wanted to share, so I taped it and did tweet this one out. And boy did that video takeoff—100,000s of views:
Needless to say, I’ve been making and sharing whiteboards ever since.
And all that incredible feedback and sharing of videos soon led to Zoom meetings—tons of tons of Zoom meetings, which led to a Powerpoint I put together, that I have shared so often:
And then the Zoom meetings became in-person meetings. At first in Ohio, but then elsewhere. Many more of late: Florida, Indiana, Oklahoma, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, D.C., and more.
I’ve now been fortunate to have met so many of you in dozens of states across the country, and numerous countries across the world. All because of a tweet that was never sent; and because so many of you felt the same frustration that drove me to write Laboratories—and because you too wanted to do things differently. And all your feedback about wanting to do things differently is what led to the companion book: “Saving Democracy.”
Boy does all that feel longer than two years!
But amid so many of the things I could say about the journey, I’ll share two:
First, thank you! So many have lifted my work and message along the way. And when you write a book like this, all you really want is for its core messages and lessons to be shared and acted upon as widely as possible. And so many of you have played an active role in doing so, while teaching me so much beyond my initial insights and instincts.
Second, keep going! In Laboratories, I suggested that if people see the right’s extremism and gameplan for what they are, and fight back at the state level in strategic and energized ways, that we can successfully fight back. For democracy. That was my theory, at least.
And guess what—you are all showing that that theory works in practice. From Kansas last August, to so many states last November (where we won Secretary of State races and statehouses in unexpected fashion), to Wisconsin in April, to Ohio in August, YOU are building a winning streak for democracy by seeing the battle for democracy more clearly, and doing some of the very things I talked about in that first book. And again, you have taught me and America so much in your activism (and I shared some of those lessons in Saving Democracy).
So…keep going! We’ve got a democracy to save!
And now for my ANNOUNCEMENT…
So…on this two-year birthday of Laboratories of Autocracy, if you haven’t read it yet, I hope you will….
Its contents remain the foundation of everything else I write and talk about. And once you read it, everything you see in the news and all that I share here and elsewhere will make more sense. Will fit together. I hope reading Laboratories becomes the foundation that shapes your own work to protect democracy, just as writing it did for me.
So get it here on Amazon. You can get the Kindle version here for only $3.99! (I keep prices low so people will read it!)
Or you can get it here on Barnes & Noble. E-book also only $3.99.
And I’m about to give you one other way to access it.
For many these days, amid all the activism we are all doing, taking in a whole book at once may feel like a lot. So for those who are interested, and who are paid subscribers to this newsletter, I’m going to deliver the heart of Laboratories to you directly through my newsletter.
I’ll share the excerpts and sections from Laboratories I consider the most important via this newsletter. And I’ll do it in digestible sizes over the coming months.
And for those who haven’t read Laboratories, I’ll give you a taste of what’s to come right now.
I’ll start right now where it all began—an opening line that seemed to get many readers excited to dive right in :)
Laboratories of Autocracy: Introduction
It was a traffic jam only Chris Christie could admire.
The cars began backing up in early October 2020, on both sides of the Norwood Lateral, one of two major East-West highways crossing Greater Cincinnati. The backups peaked late in the afternoon, but they had nothing to do with the drive home from work—most people were still not commuting downtown due to COVID. Nor was there a problem with the highway itself. No construction. No sudden spate of accidents.
No. It was something else.
The cars were jamming up the Lateral because they were all converging on the same exit halfway between Interstate 71 and Interstate 75, entering the city of Norwood. Once off the exit, the long, single-file line of cars waited at a stoplight, turned left on green, inched across the top of the highway, snaked around another gradual left, made a sharp right at a stop sign, then another right, past Sheriff’s deputies guiding traffic, and then into the packed parking lot of the Hamilton County Board of Elections.
Yes, these were all voters. The traffic jam was composed mostly of cars lining up to drop off ballots at the sole voter drop box location in a county of more than 800,000 people. The others in line were there to park, then vote in person.
Even though some of those driving had been in their cars 30, 40 or even 50 minutes to get to the point where the traffic jammed up, they were the lucky ones. For those who use public transportation, some would ride multiple buses almost 90 minutes, each way, to get themselves to that drop box in Norwood.
And these Hamilton County voters were not alone. Ohioans waited in traffic jams like this in multiple cities and counties across the state. In other counties, they would have to sit on buses for up to two hours each way.
And all this needless driving and braking and waiting—and waiting again if you were there to vote in person—occurred because of one decision, by one man, who had been warned that this exact scenario would take place.
For months, local elections officials and advocates (myself included) had pushed Ohio’s secretary of state to allow multiple voter drop boxes around the state so that voters could cast their ballots safely in the pandemic, and without mail delays that were snagging the Ohio postal system. Other states were adding voter drop boxes for these reasons, and they were proving very popular with voters. They had never been controversial before.
The first-term secretary of state, Frank LaRose, fought back. He initially said he, too, wanted more drop boxes, but had no power to add them. Only the state legislature could add drop boxes, he insisted with zero legal backing. It was clear someone was pressuring him not to add them. But then he went on a legal losing streak that would rival Rudy Giuliani’s legal woes a few months hence. Every court that looked at LaRose’s argument concluded he was wrong. Judges of all political stripes found that he could add as many drop boxes as he wanted, wherever he wanted.
Finally empowered to add them, and with some election boards planning new drop box locations, he still refused. He banned all drop boxes except those located at a single site for each county—the same lone site where voters of that county cast their ballots early in-person. Compare that to places like Denver or Seattle, where there were dozens of drop boxes in just those cities alone.
With this arbitrary decision, LaRose didn’t just defeat the purpose of drop boxes, he guaranteed a month of traffic jams. Like Governor Christie, but for voting.
Think about it—LaRose required drop boxes to be located at the same (and only) location where voters also vote early, in-person. Each day, thousands of voters already converged on these sites—driving, parking, then standing in line to vote inside (late in the campaign, they wait hours to vote this way). Usually, a single road leads to these sites—two at best. Now LaRose threw the only voter drop box of a county on top of that same congestion. Mayors and other local officials had warned him what would result. So, within days of the beginning of early voting, the traffic nightmare began, backing up for miles in some places. In Summit County (Akron), LaRose’s home county, the videos of long car lines winding through city streets went viral. LaRose later tried to fire an election official in Summit County, citing the traffic jams as one reason, but the Ohio Supreme Court rejected his argument, saying he was to blame.
Bottom line: at the time, it was clearly a horrible decision, and one that earned harsh criticism across both Ohio and the nation. In hindsight, it looked even worse.
Now, fast forward six months to 2021.
Ohio’s new legislature is in session in Columbus, and one of the items on its busy agenda is a new voting bill.
These lawmakers all watched the debate over drop boxes and traffic jams. They saw the letters from mayors and elections officials, and the predictable results of LaRose’s ban. Some of these lawmakers no doubt witnessed the congestion in person. As politicians, they would’ve seen the polling that 76% of Ohio voters support more drop boxes.
These are the people who have the power to overrule LaRose’s terrible decision. With the benefit of hindsight, they can act on the painful lesson from months before.
So, what do they do?
They propose a law locking in the ban on more drop boxes for all future elections. [Note: it later passed]
That’s right, one drop box location per county, permanently— and only at the one location where early, in-person voting already draws thousands. Guaranteed congestion, now cemented into law for all future secretaries of state. For all future voters.
That’s “voting reform” in Ohio in the year 2021. One of the changes, at least.
That’s Ohio’s statehouse at work. They liked the congestion. They want voters to endure it from now on.
But Ohio is not alone. With Ohio politicians pushing for this permanent dropbox ban as this book goes to print, states like Georgia and Iowa were so impressed by LaRose’s traffic jams, they had already passed laws doing the same thing….
David, you are simply adding to my must read list! Your example of the single drop off box is an example of a huge increase in economic costs to people for voting. This increases the poorer you are as well! Imagine 90 minutes each way, and having to take the time off work to do it (if you can). Making such a commitment can get people fired from their jobs. This is a powerful form of voter suppression.
How can they make this ban permanent? If we somehow flip the legislature in Ohio couldn’t the ban be revoked? Maybe the answer is in the book which I plan to read very soon after I finish Heather Cox Richardson’s book!