On Wednesday, the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, warned that democracy is being threatened throughout the country.
Carter wrote in a New York Times op-ed titled "I fear for our democracy" that "our great nation now teeters on the brink of a widening abyss."
The words from the former president come just a year after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In his op-ed, the Nobel Peace Prize winner wrote that "Americans must set aside differences and work together before it is too late."
He also mentioned that we must take immediate action, otherwise we are at "genuine risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy."
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Carter had joined the three other living former Presidents a year ago in calling out the violent rioters who stormed the Capitol as Congress met to certify the 2020 presidential election results.
The rioters claimed that the election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump. In his op-ed, Carter wrote that "promoters of the lie that the election was stolen have taken over one political party and stoked distrust in our electoral systems."
When it comes to what has happened in the year since the attack, Carter is disappointed as he hoped it would have shocked "the nation into addressing the toxic polarization that threatens our democracy."
However, he says that politicians have only "leveraged the distrust they have created to enact laws that empower partisan legislatures to intervene in election processes."
Instead of using the tragic events to help the nation heal, he says they have used it to "seek to win by any means, and many Americans are being persuaded to think and act likewise, threatening to collapse the foundations of our security and democracy with breathtaking speed."
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Carter also wrote that he is afraid of losing what the United States has worked so hard to gain.
"I now fear that what we have fought so hard to achieve globally -- the right to free, fair elections, unhindered by strongman politicians who seek nothing more than to grow their own power -- has become dangerously fragile at home," Carter said.
When it comes to fixing the nation's issues and mistrust, Carter says five things can be done to help.
He said that American citizens must agree on constitutional norms and respect each other despite political differences; the country should push for election reforms to ensure access to and confidence in elections; the country should resist polarization; the country should reject violence in politics; and lastly, disinformation must be addressed.
"Americans must set aside differences and work together before it is too late," Carter wrote.
