"We have to act now to take steps so that the next time there is a razor-thin election -- and there will be one, sooner or later — our civil society is strong enough to withstand foreign and domestic efforts to tear it apart." — Richard Hasen

Richard L. Hasen is Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. He has been identified as the nation's leading election law expert. Given the anger, divisiveness, and dis-connection between the two political parties as the 2020 Presidential election draws near, he says, there are things that can go wrong.

Here are the four threats to American democracy:

1. Voter suppression
2. Administrative incompetence
3. Dirty tricks
4. Incendiary rhetoric that causes Americans to doubt the honesty of the elections.

Hasen does not have to look far to find examples of these threats. They were in evidence in the 2016 presidential election and in several local and state elections since then. They seem to be ever greater threats in the 2020 presidential election.

Thanks to Hasan and other scholars for pointing out what we need to watch out for. But it's going to take more than research and observation to prevent an election meltdown. See the excerpt for three possible fixes.