January 6, 2021, that day of presidential infamy, was also an experiment for Donald Trump and those who wanted to overturn a legitimate election through a quiet coup; when it failed, violence was the fallback. Call it a beta test for what may be in store if Trump loses in 2024. But to be forewarned is to be forearmed. We are better prepared now, in part through a salutary reform of the Electoral Count Act.

The bipartisan legislation, signed into law by President Joe Biden, limits many underhanded means Trump’s allies would otherwise employ in case of another electoral loss, including sending in bogus alternative slates of electors.

Still, challenges remain. In fact, since at least last October, Trump has been preparing America for his post-election campaign to overturn the election if he loses. He said then, "You don't have to vote, don't worry about voting. The voting, we got plenty of votes." He said it again to a group of Christian conservatives on July 25. “We don’t need your votes. We have enough votes.”

With such proclamations, Donald Trump is doing two things.

First, he’s telling his MAGA troops to aggressively monitor voting. That instruction is not coming out of the blue. MAGA lawyer and strategist, Cleta Mitchell, who, according to the New York Times, “plotted” with him “to overturn the 2020 Trump loss,” has been running a well-funded effort “recruiting election conspiracists into an organized cavalry of activists monitoring elections” using “aggressive methods.” She told 150 MAGA activists-in-training that this was all about “taking the lessons we learned in 2020.”

Ordinary citizens, it is crucial to note, can neutralize intimidation at polling places with our own monitors, as we have in previous cycles.

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Trump’s second tactic is about his planning to overturn his election loss if it occurs. He’s softening the ground to repeat his 2020 Big Lie: “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT.” He paved the way for that claim before election day 2020 by regularly claiming in advance, “The........

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