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'Slow-motion insurrection': How GOP seizes election power

AP Photo/Bob Christie, File
Republican Rep. Mark Finchem speaks May 2, 2018, at the Capitol in Phoenix. In the year since the Jan. 6 riot, Donald Trump-aligned Republicans have worked to clear the path for next time. In battleground states and beyond, Republicans are systematically taking hold of the once overlooked machinery of elections, weakening or replacing the checks in place to prevent partisan meddling with results.

Supporters of Donald Trump are trying to remove some of the guardrails that stopped him from overturning the 2020 presidential election.

Trump is targeting closely contested states where key Republicans refused to go along with his plans to declare that he defeated Democrat Joe Biden in the White House race.

Trump is backing an array of candidates for governor and secretary of state who support his unfounded view that the 2020 election was riddled with fraud.

As Republicans increasingly accept Trump’s version of the 2020 election, they're trying to take over election operations in pivotal states.

Experts and even some Republicans warn it’s a grave threat to democracy.