Oh! I see what you are saying.
Of course he doesn’t take his elect and harden them. But he does take the wicked and give them hearts of flesh, causes them to be reborn and thus, with a couple of other intermediary steps brought about by the Holy Spirit, makes the ungodly righteous.
Hardening the heart of the already unrighteous brings about the removal of all restraint that God had exerted on their miserable lives and exposes them for what they really are.
Know a lot about God's motives and heart, do you?
Would God take His elect and destroy their lives, kill their family, and let them rot from disease?