Besides recognizing basic human rights, the reason we hold free and fair elections is to avoid violence. Throughout the Great Depression and two World Wars, our democracy has consistently experienced a peaceful transfer of power not seen in many countries in part due to the central role of our election processes in maintaining the peace.

It’s no easy task, and we need to be grateful to the many people who work countless hours to make sure elections are run smoothly and securely.

This last election season, thousands of workers at the state, municipal, and county level braved the pandemic to do the painstaking work of counting a record number of ballots, including large numbers absentee ballots.

Those folks should be thanked for doing incredible work that helps hold our society together. While most of us are grateful, a small, vociferous group of Republicans have made baseless attacks against voters, the voting process, and, now, have showed up armed at the home of Michigan’s Secretary of State. All Republican leaders have a moral duty to publicly denounce the lies and conspiracy theories that foster these threats.

Humans run elections, and humans sometimes make mistakes, whether it’s forgetting to turn off the oven or losing car keys. That is exactly why elections departments already have numerous safeguards to protect election integrity.

Mistakes, however, are easily correctable and identifiable. What Republican lackeys like Michigan GOP Chair Laura Cox and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel allege regarding the state of elections in Michigan is so far removed from reality that there are no legitimate ways to address their concerns from a practical sense.

As U.S. District Judge Linda Parker told the Donald Trump campaign after she threw out their nonsense lawsuit, Republicans are peddling an “amalgamation of theories, conjecture, and speculation.”

That sets a bad precedent for democracy.

In the face of those baseless conspiracies, they have fanned the flames for violence to take place against our elected officials. Armed protestors showed up outside Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s house, where she lives with her husband — who, by the way is a U.S. veteran — and her 4-year-old son, only to harass her for doing the job voters chose her for and upholding the oath of office she took and her husband put his life on the line to defend. Others, including Rep. Cynthia Johnson, who sits on the House Oversight Committee, have received threatening messages and voicemails, including some that use racial slurs and even say she should be lynched, in response to her questioning of witnesses during a recent meeting featuring Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Across these past few weeks, we’ve seen just how dangerous disinformation is. Republicans’ decision to push conspiracy theories about our elections isn’t just undemocratic. It endangers citizens.

Actions to improve elections, like expanding opportunities for early voting and ending partisan gerrymandering, should be welcomed. But to begin the conversation with mistrusting the core of our democracy is damaging for our safety as a country. Opposing lies shouldn’t put your life at risk.

Lonnie Scott is executive director of Progress Michigan, a progressive advocacy group.