What is the difference between a democracy and a constitutional republic? The latter is a term adopted by Big Lie supporters to connote the government they want to see, wherein voting rights are restricted so that American votes matter less. (See this recent portrait of Arizona politics by New York Times reporter Robert Draper.) Citizen Board Member and MSNBC host Ali Velshi walks us through the definitions and explains why far right members of our body politic fear free and fair elections.

“We do have representative democracy in this country, and that means our freedom comes from our right to choose who best represents our interests as a nation,” says Velshi, “And at the core of this attempt to disparage the idea of democracy is the far right’s view that voting itself is an existential threat. Voting restrictions, voter suppression, gerrymandering, redistricting, the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act are all a product of this new republic. Your power as a citizen scares them. Your vote threatens them.”

Listen to Velshi’s commentary below.

Watch Velshi’s piece below.

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