Legal experts warn the GOP's new elections laws could've changed the result of the 2020 race

Voter suppression has long been an issue in the United States as some lawmakers have worked tirelessly to make it more and more difficult for Americans to vote. However, there is a deeper layer of voter suppression that also threatens to further disrupt the already-impaired voting systems in place around the country.

After losing control of the Senate, the House, and the White House, Republican lawmakers waged war on America's voting systems with a litany of controversial bills. Not only have they proposed legislation to dictate how people cast votes, some state legislatures are also attempting to interfere with how elections are conducted.

A new CNN op-ed details how Republican lawmakers are quietly working to implement laws that will align with the election outcomes they are seeking. While Democrats managed to prevail during the 2020 presidential election, the author makes one thing very clear: the election outcome could have been very different if Republican lawmakers' most outlandish proposed bills had been passed.

"Make no mistake: Had the worst of these proposals been in place last November, they might have resulted in a different outcome. If we let them pass now, they will threaten free and fair elections in the future."

Although former President Donald Trump fell short in his repeated and relentless attempts to overturn the presidential election, Republican lawmakers have picked up where he left off in an attempt to do his bidding. Over the last several months, they have introduced more than 140 bills in 36 different states.

Many of the proposed bills "seek to give partisan state legislatures control of election processes and outcomes instead of the trusted experts, career professionals, and bipartisan volunteers who have run elections for decades."

A total of 16 states have drafted proposed laws or passed legislation that would take control of elections from state officials and put it in the hands of the legislature. If similar legislation had been passed prior to the 2020 election to support this type of transfer of power, election results in states like Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania may have turned out differently due to Republican lawmakers having Senate majorities.

With lawmakers having control of elections, Republican lawmakers may try to use this control to hand victory to their own party. The steps Republican lawmakers are taking to solidify elections signals a serious threat to America's democracy that could impact generations to come. It is imperative for Democratic lawmakers to push back against these measures before we reach the point of no return.