“We wasted a year,” said one person who runs an organization helping local election officials across the country. “A lot of us who work in the space every day are baffled by the way these tactics were devised and pursued.”

Now Democratic activists and grassroots supporters are deflated by the failure to pass voting legislation, even as crucial work is ongoing to prepare for and prevent a potential assault on democracy. They fear it will be difficult to rouse voters with a message that, actually, this other thing is the real existential threat.

“All the rhetoric about how important it was to pass those bills so people could vote, and then failing, stands to depress [Democratic] turnout,” said Ben Ginsberg, a veteran Republican election lawyer who in 2020 became a leading voice pushing back on then-President Donald Trump’s election lies. Ginsberg is now leading an effort with Democratic attorney Bob Bauer to help protect local officials who oversee elections from threats and frivolous legal harassment.