Category: Election Integrity

Jeffrey Clark’s Attorney Tells Georgia Judge Six Reasons Why Fani Willis Should be Disqualified, Calls Her Office a ‘Global Laughingstock’

Rachel Alexander
Harry MacDougald

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee heard arguments last week from defense attorneys about why Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from her RICO case against former President Donald Trump and his associates.  

Willis had an affair with Nathan Wade, the prosecutor she appointed to lead the case. This caused attorneys, including Harry MacDougald, who represents Jeffrey Clark, to list six conflicts of interest she faces in a presentation to the court.

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Arizona Legislature and Runbeck Election Services Reach Election Integrity Agreement, Including 2022 Election Footage

Tom Pappert
Runbeck Ballot Production

A memorandum of understanding (MAU) between the Arizona Legislature and Runbeck Election Services on Monday, with Representative Alex Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) and Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff) declaring it will significantly strengthen election integrity.

The legislature and Runbeck, which processes the mail-in ballots for Maricopa County, reached four key areas of agreement that include the release of some 2022 election video, and the lawmakers explained in a press release that the MAU marks “the culmination of an extensive examination of the company’s election processes.”

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Federal Court Upholds Most of Arizona’s Two New Election Integrity Laws Regarding Proof of Citizenship, Found No ‘Discriminatory Purpose’

Rachel Alexander
Register to Vote

Both sides are calling a federal district court’s ruling a win, which upheld most of two new Arizona election integrity laws. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton struck down parts of HB 2492, which requires proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, and HB 2243, which requires quarterly reporting of the number of Arizona voters who did not list their citizenship status.

State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), the primary sponsor of both bills, expressed his disappointment to The Arizona Sun Times. “Bolton’s ruling is potentially the most intellectually dishonest, schizophrenic legal determination in the last half century. Bolton has shown a clear disdain for legislative authority, while simultaneously weaponizing the court against common sense. The idea that a person wouldn’t need to produce documentary proof of citizenship to vote in U.S. elections is lunacy. I can only hope that this case ultimately works its way to the U.S. Supreme Court where there still remains a semblance of sanity thanks to President Trump’s justices and the great Clarence Thomas.”

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America First Legal Expands Landmark Election Integrity Case to Yavapai County After Maricopa County Tried to ‘Sabotage’ It

Rachel Alexander
Voting Line

America First Legal (AFL) “expanded a landmark Arizona election integrity case” last week, suing Yavapai County. AFL said in a press release that it withdrew the initial election integrity complaint against Maricopa County election officials due to “Maricopa County’s schemes to sabotage the case,” re-filing it in Yavapai County. The new lawsuit, which is substantially the same as the initial one, added an additional allegation, that during the 2022 elections, at least one voting center in Yavapai County had printer malfunctions that caused long lines. 

James Rogers, America First Legal Senior Counsel, said in a statement, “What is Maricopa County’s response to the legitimate concerns of its citizens? Frivolous procedural motions trying to delay the case and ensure it is not heard on its merits. This voluntary dismissal is not the end of this case, but just the beginning.”

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D.C. Court of Appeals Panel Gives Trump’s Former DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark a Unanimous Victory on Subpoena Violating His Fifth Amendment Rights

Rachel Alexander

A panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled unanimously on Monday that the D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) unconstitutionally subpoenaed documents from former President Donald Trump’s former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark in violation of his Fifth Amendment rights.

In addition to facing ODC disciplinary charges for his role in assisting Trump in handling the 2020 presidential election irregularities, Clark was indicted along with Trump and others in Georgia and is an unnamed co-conspirator in another case. The court issued its decision immediately after a hearing on Friday.

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Cochise County Supervisors Fight AG Kris Mayes’ Prosecution Over Delaying Vote Certification; File Motions to Dismiss, Request New Grand Jury

Rachel Alexander
Cochise County Supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd

Cochise County Supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd are fighting back against Attorney General Kris Mayes’ prosecution of them for voting to delay certification of the 2022 election by three days. The pair filed motions last week requesting that the case be dismissed and challenging the grand jury’s finding of probable cause against them. 

In Crosby’s Motion to Dismiss, which Judd joined later, Crosby’s attorney Dennis Wilenchik said, “The criminal statute involved is vague and ambiguous and overbroad, and unconstitutional as applied here to a member of a Board of Supervisors of a County voting in his official capacity. The case was brought purely for political purposes by the Attorney General and is an egregious abuse of her powers.”

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Maricopa County Judge Recuses Himself from Election-Related Case Due to Activist Brother’s Social Media Posts Denigrating Republican Election Lawsuits

Rachel Alexander
Judge

Opposition is increasing to the judges assigned to handle election related lawsuits in Arizona, as their biases are being revealed. After Arizona Senate Majority leader Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) and House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) requested that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Tim Ryan recuse himself from their lawsuit challenging the state’s Election Procedures Manual (EPM) because of his progressive activist older brother’s posts on X, Ryan voluntarily recused himself. 

The Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus issued an announcement praising the recusal. “His brother, Tom Ryan, is a liberal attorney who plagues social media with his contempt for the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature with an incessant number of juvenile posts,” the statement said. “There is no way anyone who has witnessed the antics of Judge Ryan’s brother, which included case-specific criticisms and commentary, can credibly believe that Judge Ryan could give the Legislature a fair trial.”

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Arizona Free Enterprise Club Files Lawsuit Against Adrian Fontes over ‘Illegal’ and ‘Most Radical’ Elections Procedures Manual in Arizona’s History

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) filed a lawsuit last week against Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, accusing him of making illegal changes to the state’s Election Procedures Manual (EPM). Represented by the America First Policy Institute, Davillier Law Group, and Grand Canyon Legal Center, AFEC said the revisions improperly place protected political speech at risk of criminal prosecution and have an unconstitutional chilling effect on protected political speech.

“Secretary Fontes has produced one of the most radical elections procedures manuals in our state’s history,” said Scot Mussi, AFEC’s president. “If the illegal provisions of this manual are allowed to stand, the integrity and transparency of state elections would continue to dissipate at the hands of leftwing ideologues. We hope the court agrees with our arguments and forces the Secretary to adhere to state law.”

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Katie Hobbs Used State Resources for Censorship ‘Volunteers’ Who Monitored Twitter for ‘Misinformation’ in 2022 Arizona Elections: Email

Tom Pappert
Gov. Katie Hobbs

An email surfaced by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) on Tuesday revealed Governor Katie Hobbs used government resources to facilitate a volunteer force that flagged “misinformation” ahead of the 2022 election, including on Election Day.

The legal organization explained that it revealed the email through an Arizona Public Records Law request to the Arizona Secretary of State which requested communications between Hobbs’ office and social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and Instagram between January 7, 2019 and January 1, 2023.

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VoterGA’s Garland Favorito Recaps Case Claiming Georgia Election Equipment ‘Constitutionally Deficient’ After Trial Concludes

Tom Pappert
Garland Favorito

Garland Favorito of Georgia election integrity group, Voter GA, held a press conference last week to urge Ninth District Court Judge Amy Totenberg to side with the plaintiffs in Curling v. Raffensperger and declare the ballot imaging devices (BMDs) used in Georgia “constitutionally deficient.”

“The last month or so has been very intense; it’s been 24/7 days for most of the attorneys and staff,” Favorito began before turning to a discussion over the closing arguments made by plaintiff Ricardo Davis in the six-year-old lawsuit.

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We the People AZ Alliance Introduces AVII Ballot Hand Count Method to Senate Elections Committee, Already Adopted by Maricopa County Republicans

Rachel Alexander
Shelby Busch

The Senate Elections Committee heard a presentation from We the People AZ Alliance (WPAA) co-founder Shelby Busch on Monday regarding its plan for restoring trust in elections by including hand counts of ballots.

Both the Arizona Republican Party, the Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC), and Arkansas Republicans have already implemented the AVII method, which is known as the Arkansas Voter Integrity Initiative, in its party elections. Republicans in Arkansas want to make the AVII method law by putting the question to voters as a constitutional amendment.

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America First Legal Lawsuit Against Maricopa County Over Election Illegalities Raises Issues Other Judges Previously Found Had Merit in 2020 Election Cases

Rachel Alexander

America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Maricopa County, alleging numerous violations of election law since 2020. Some of the issues raised in the complaint were brought up in similar lawsuits brought around the country challenging irregularities in the 2020 election, where judges found they had merit.

The AFL listed eight issues in its complaint, and mainly asked for declaratory judgment to stop the county from repeating the wrongdoing and comply with law. The first was lack of chain of custody for tens of thousands of ballots, a class 2 misdemeanor. The second was failure to conduct reconciliation as required by law, which refers to comparing the number of votes cast at polling centers to the number of voters who checked in. The third was the failure of the voting center printers, disenfranchising voters. The fourth was the racially discriminatory location of vote centers, disadvantaging Native Americans and whites who lived farther from the locations than others. 

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The Pima Integrity Project and CONELRAD Group Expose ‘Malfeasance,’ ‘Maladministration’ and Possible RICO Violations in Pima County’s Recent Elections

Rachel Alexander

The CONELRAD Group, a team of mostly former intelligence and military officers located primarily in southern Arizona that exposed what it believes is malfeasance in Pinal County’s 2022 election, has teamed up with the Pima Integrity Project (PIP) to expose similar malfeasance in Pima County’s elections. Led by database expert Tim Laux, the group of election researchers in PIP said it believes it found doctored canvassing reports and large numbers of newly registered voters who voted before they were eligible, among other illegal activities.

Jack Dona of CONELRAD told The Arizona Sun Times the findings could rise to the level of criminal racketeering. Dona holds 43 intelligence and technical certifications and diplomas from civilian colleges, technical schools, and military academies and served in military intelligence, retiring as a master sergeant/first sergeant.

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Arizona House Passes ‘Landmark’ Election Integrity Bill with Overwhelming Support to Create Signature Verification Standards, Promote Voter ID

Tom Pappert

The Arizona State House voted on Thursday overwhelmingly in favor of a “landmark” election integrity bill that would set the state’s official standards for signature verification and promote the use of voter ID in early voting, among other improvements to the state’s voting system.

Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale), who sponsored the legislation, celebrated the passage of HB 2785 on Thursday in a press release that declared the law will bring “landmark election integrity reforms.”

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America First Legal Files ‘Landmark Lawsuit’ Against Maricopa County Election Officials over Alleged Violations of Arizona Law

Tom Pappert

America First Legal (AFL) on Wednesday announced a new “landmark lawsuit” in Arizona against Maricopa County, its board of supervisors, and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer alleging the county has violated various state election laws since 2020.

AFL’s James Rogers said in a statement that “Maricopa County’s errors, lapses, and mistakes in administering elections have seriously eroded” the “trust that elections are free and fair,” which he noted underpins the “legitimacy of our government.”

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Kari Lake’s Attorney Bryan Blehm Files Answer to the State Bar of Arizona’s Disciplinary Charges, Addresses Issue Regarding 35,563 Unaccounted for Ballots

Rachel Alexander
Arizona State Bar

The State Bar of Arizona (SBA) is proceeding with two counts against Kari Lake’s attorney Bryan Blehm for referencing in a brief that 35,563 ballots were unaccounted for due to chain of custody problems at Maricopa County’s third-party early ballot processor, Runbeck Election Services, and for criticizing the Arizona judiciary. Representing himself, Blehm filed a 94-page Answer to the SBA’s charges on January 25. 

In Count 1, the SBA accused Blehm of “misleading” the Arizona Supreme Court. The first half of the SBA’s case against Blehm consists of claiming that he lied when he stated in a pleading that both parties in Lake’s election challenge agreed that there was a discrepancy of 35,563 ballots unaccounted for due to chain of custody problems at Runbeck. Blehm asserted in the Lake brief, “The record indisputably reflects at least 35,563 Election Day early ballots, for which there is no record of delivery to Runbeck, were added at Runbeck….” 

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Gina Swoboda Explains Why She Was Reluctant at First to Run for AZGOP Chair

Kaitlin Housler

Newly-elected chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Gina Swoboda joined Thursday’s edition of The Afternoon Addiction with Garret Lewis on KFYI to discuss why she was reluctant at first to run as the AZGOP chair, explaining how a call from former President Donald Trump ultimately changed her mind.

“It was impossible to say no,” Swoboda said. “It was surreal. I think any one of us when called upon to serve is going to serve.”

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AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda Explains Why Early Litigation ‘Has to Happen’ to Avoid Election Fraud This Election Cycle

Kaitlin Housler
AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda

Newly-elected chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP), Gina Swoboda, joined Thursday’s edition of The Afternoon Addiction with Garret Lewis on KFYI to discuss how her extensive knowledge of election laws will benefit her in her new position as the party’s chair, in particular her strategy of litigating to protect the party against lawfare this election cycle before it’s “too late.”

Swoboda was elected at the annual AZGOP Mandatory Meeting of the State Committee last week following the resignation of former chair Jeff DeWit.

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Trump’s Former DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark Gets Closer to Disciplinary Bar Trial After Status Hearing Reveals Double Standards

Rachel Alexander

A pre-hearing conference was held last month in the bar disciplinary proceedings against Jeffrey Clark, a former DOJ official under President Donald Trump.

He is being disciplined over a memo he drafted that was never sent to Georgia officials advising them of their options for addressing the illegalities in the 2020 election.

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Gina Swoboda Explains How Her Election Integrity Work Will Play a Role in Her New Position as AZGOP Chair

Kaitlin Housler
AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda

Newly-elected chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Gina Swoboda joined Thursday’s edition of The Afternoon Addiction with Garret Lewis on KFYI to discuss her experience as an election official and how her extensive knowledge of election laws will benefit her in her new position as chair.

“One of the issues I think we have had historically is that there has not been a process expert, a subject matter expert, that works with the attorneys to explain to them, ‘this is what should be happening, this is not what’s happening, flag on the court.’ The election attorneys are great, but they are election attorneys, not election administrators,” Swoboda explained. “I’m a certified election official and I’ve helped administer elections…so I know what’s supposed to be happening, I know when things are not supposed to be happening, or when we should be doing things that we are not doing.”

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Mohave County Supervisor Ron Gould Sues AG Kris Mayes over Her Threats to Prosecute Him for Voting to Hand Count Ballots

Rachel Alexander
AZ AG Kris Mayes and Mohave County Supervisor Ron Gould

Mohave County Supervisor Ron Gould filed a lawsuit against Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes over her threat to prosecute him if he voted in favor of conducting a hand count of the 2024 election. He asked the court in the complaint, which was filed on January 19, to rule “[t]hat Plaintiff should not be subjected to threats and intimidation by the Attorney General for voting to have hand counting be the primary initial method of vote tabulation.”

Represented by Wilenchik & Bartness, Gould described the threat, “This case is about an elected official potentially losing his liberty and being jailed as a criminal, if Defendant Mayes is correct, for voting according to his conscience, and pursuant to the will of his constituents, based on election statutes that appear not to bar his intended support for vote counting based on hand counting and not the use of electronic voting machines.”

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Democrat State Representative Files Bill to Make Ballot Harvesting Easier in Arizona

Tom Pappert

Democratic State Representative Stahl Hamilton introduced SB 2336 last week, which would allow mail-in ballots to be handled and delivered by individuals who are not related to the voter who cast the ballot.

Hamilton’s bill specifically strikes language that mandates, “A person may only handle or return their own ballot or the ballot of family members, household members or persons for whom they are a caregiver” and declares it “unlawful” to “handle or return the ballot of any other person.”

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Kari Lake Praises New Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda as ‘Election Integrity Hero,’ Confirms She Released AZGOP Audio

Tom Pappert

Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake expressed full confidence in newly-elected Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Chair Gina Swoboda during a Sunday interview. She also offered new insight about the alleged bribe that was relayed by former AZGOP Chair Jeff DeWit.

Speaking to “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo, Lake called Swoboda “an incredible woman who is an election integrity hero and will make prioritizing securing our elections a top priority” before the November elections.

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Donald Trump and Kari Lake Endorse Election Integrity Leader Gina Swoboda for AZGOP Chair, Election Tomorrow

Rachel Alexander
Gina Swoboda

Donald Trump and Kari Lake announced their endorsement Friday of the Voter Reference Foundation’s Gina Swoboda for Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) chair. Jeff DeWit was forced to resign this past week after a recording was released of him attempting to convince Lake to stay out of politics for two years by offering her a well-paying job instead. The election will be held on Saturday at the AZGOP’s annual mandatory meeting for state committeemen.

Lake announced the endorsements on X Friday evening. “I am proud to join President Trump in endorsing Gina Swoboda to become Arizona GOP’s next Chair at tomorrow’s vote,” she said. “Gina has never backed away from working for honest elections, and she is respected in the Republican Party. I am confident that Gina will help deliver Arizona for President Trump and flip control of the U.S. Senate.”

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Newly-Resigned AZGOP Chair Jeff DeWit Told NBC ‘No One Believes Kari Can Attract Independents’ and Win Senate Race

Rachel Alexander
Jeff DeWit

Information regarding a recorded conversation between newly-resigned Arizona Republican Party Chair Jeff DeWit and Kari Lake continues to trickle out as speculation increases regarding who the “very powerful people” “Back East” were who told him to offer her a job to keep her out of politics for two years. An inside source told The Arizona Sun Times that it was the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which was denied by NRSC Chair Senator Steve Daines (R-MT).

DeWit told NBC News after resigning that the offer “had everything to do with her being a drag on the ticket. There are people who want to make sure we win the election and that’s it. No one believes she can get across the finish line, particularly with independents.” Lake is running for U.S. Senate and is a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, with some circulating her name as a possible vice presidential candidate. She flew to New Hampshire before the primary on Tuesday.

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NRSC Silent on Whether It Was Behind AZGOP Chair’s Offer of Money from ‘Back East’ for Kari Lake to Stay Out of Politics

Rachel Alexander
Jeff DeWit

Jeff DeWit, the chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP), resigned on Wednesday after an audio recording was leaked revealing him offering Kari Lake money and a job if she stayed out of politics for two years. Now, questions are arising as to who told DeWit to make the offer.

The former chair of AZGOP said “very powerful people” “Back East” were behind it. A source knowledgeable of the situation told The Arizona Sun Times that it was the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), naming Political Director Tim Edson. However, when The Sun Times asked the NRSC if this was true, the organization did not respond.

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Kari Lake Holds Press Conference Discussing Newly Resigned AZGOP Chair’s Financial Offer to Get Her Out of Politics

Rachel Alexander

Kari Lake held a press conference on Rumble Wednesday evening to discuss revelations from a newly released recording of a conversation last March between herself and former Arizona Republican Party Chair Jeff DeWit, who was forced to resign after it came out. In the recording, DeWit is heard attempting to convince Lake to drop out of politics for a couple of years in exchange for a well-paying job, prompting an outcry that forced his resignation on Tuesday. Lake fielded questions from both reporters and other viewers during her talk, which lasted around half an hour.

One of the questions asked of Lake was whether she knew who DeWit was referring to when he told her “very powerful people” “Back East” were behind the offer. Lake said she didn’t know, but said D.C. was so corrupt it would be possible to come up with a list of 400 to 500 people or groups that could be behind it.

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Republicans at Annual Maricopa GOP Meeting Pass Resolution Asking Arizona Legislature to Conduct 2024 Election by Hand Count

Rachel Alexander

Maricopa County Republicans voted to pass a resolution last Saturday at the annual mandatory meeting for precinct commiteemen demanding that the Arizona Legislature conduct the presidential election in November using election integrity measures such as voting in-person only with only limited exceptions. The resolution states that the legislature has the authority to implement this under the U.S. Constitution. By doing so, they could get around Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs vetoing bills to accomplish these measures. Legislative District (LD) 3 Republicans passed the resolution unanimously on November 30 last year.

The resolution, authored by grassroots activist Josh Barnett, who is running for state senate in LD 2, strongly urges the legislature to use the authority provided in the U.S. Constitution’s Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1, and Article 2, Section 1, Clause 2 to select the time, place and manner of federal elections — specifically the presidential election. It asks the legislature to conduct the November 5, 2024 election for president with “voting in-person on Election Day only, requiring proof of U.S. citizenship, Voter ID, precinct-based voting and hand counting, no mail-ins, no machines, allowing absentee ballots only under appropriate mitigating circumstances.”

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Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones Announces Bill Banning Ranked Choice Voting

Tom Pappert
Jones Robertson

Georgia Lieutenant Gov. Burt Jones (R) and State Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) introduced SB 355 on Tuesday to ban ranked choice voting in the state.

Jones said in a statement that ranked choice voting “is designed to cause confusion and fatigue among voters.” Allegedly “pushed by dark money groups,” Jones added it “could cause a drastic increase in the number of ballots being thrown out, disenfranchising Georgia voters.”

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Outcomes of the 92 Election Cases from the 2020 Election Reveal Widely Divergent Decisions by Judges: Part 1

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Sun Times examined the outcomes of the 92 cases challenging problems with the 2020 election and discovered many of the rulings were opposed to each other despite the facts and laws being very similar.

The analysis was based on a comprehensive report compiled by physicist John Droz and a team of statistical PhDs, which refuted the mainstream media’s claim that were 60 lawsuits thrown out on the merits. The report found that only 30 of those cases were decided on merit, and of those 30, Trump and/or the Republican plaintiff prevailed in 22. This analysis, Part One, examines some of the divergent opinions on standing, fraud, and injury.

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Fulton County DA Fani Willis Under Fire for Paying Alleged Married Lover to Prosecute Trump, Bar Complaint Filed

Rachel Alexander

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is prosecuting former President Donald Trump and others connected to him, is facing accusations she violated attorneys ethics rules by appointing her married lover as chief prosecutor on the case. The accusation was raised in a pleading filed on Monday by a lawyer for Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign staff member who also faces charges in the case along with 13 others. A bar complaint was filed with the State Bar of Georgia.

On Tuesday, Trump reacted to the news, calling Willis “totally compromised” and stating that the case “must be dropped.” He added, “It’s illegal. What she did is illegal. So we’ll let the state handle that, but what a sad situation it is.” 

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D.C. Bar Disciplinary Panel Holds Contentious Pretrial Hearing Before Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former DOJ Attorney Jeff Clark

Admin
Jeff Clark

A District of Columbia Bar disciplinary panel held a pretrial hearing last month to prepare for the upcoming disbarment trial against President Donald Trump’s former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark. Clark (pictured above) is also being prosecuted in Georgia and is an unindicted co-conspirator in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal prosecution, due to a letter Clark drafted to Georgia election officials after the 2020 election advising them of options the Georgia Legislature could take to address the concerns about election illegalities. The letter was never sent nor circulated.

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Convicted Arizona Ballot Harvester Appointed San Luis Vice Mayor Despite Sentence Keeping Her from Public Office

Tom Pappert
Gloria Torres

San Luis City appointed city Council Member Gloria Torres as the city’s new vice mayor on December 14, 2023, representing her first promotion since her conviction for a misdemeanor ballot harvesting scheme in June of last year. Her colleague and longtime critic, Council Member Gary Garcia Snyder, told The Arizona Sun Times his constituents “are at a loss” following Torres’ appointment.

Torres (pictured above) pleaded guilty to her role in a ballot harvesting scheme after she was indicted following the release of camera footage obtained by Garcia Snyder and David Lara, a San Luis Republican who was elected to a school board seat in 2016, as the result of a “sting” operation.

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Georgia State Representative Who Drafted Voting Law Appointed Superior Court Judge, Setting Stage for Special Election

Tom Pappert
Barry Fleming

Governor Brian Kemp appointed Georgia State Representative Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) to become a Superior Judge in the the Columbia Judicial Circuit. Fleming drafted Georgia’s 2021 voting law, and reportedly faced reprisal from government officials because of the legislation.

Kemp revealed his judicial appointments in a Thursday press release that he appointed Fleming to the judgeship vacated with the retirement of Judge James Blanchard.

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Georgia Election Board Chairman Will Be Replaced Weeks After Vote Against Investigating Brad Raffensperger

Tom Pappert

The Georgia State Senate is reportedly planning to replace the acting chairman of the State Election Board just weeks after he voted against investigating how Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) managed the 2020 presidential election. Raffensperger’s political adversary, Lt. Governor Burt Jones (R), will reportedly play a role in determining the new chairman.

Acting chairman Matt Mashburn will be replaced with another Republican by the Georgia State Senate, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which cited two sources familiar with the plan. Mashburn most recently received a two-year appointment by former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan (R), and was confirmed by the Georgia Senate in 2021. His term expired earlier this year.

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Virginia Democrat Files Bill to Make Identification Issued by ‘Any Private Entity’ Regulated by Virginia Agencies Count as Voter ID

Tom Pappert
Virginia Del David Reid

Virginia Delegate David Reid (D-Loudoun) filed a bill earlier this month that would include privately-created identification cards as permissible forms of voter identification.

Reid filed HB 26 on December 18 to amend existing Virginia law regarding voter identification to allow “any valid identification card containing a photograph of the voter and issued by any private entity that is licensed or certified, in whole or in part, by the Department of Health, Department of Social Services, Department of Medical Assistance Services, or Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.”

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New Documentary ‘State of Denial’ Goes Over Election Illegalities in Maricopa County’s 2022 Election, Reveals ‘Intentional Conduct to Sabotage the Election’

Rachel Alexander
State of Denial Arizona

A new documentary released on Wednesday, reveals the full extent of the chaos on Election Day last fall in Maricopa County due to voters unable to feed their ballots into the machines for tabulation. Speropictures released “State of Denial” in a viewing hosted by We the People AZ Alliance (WPAA) at Pollack Cinemas in Tempe, which is now available free online. The documentary interviewed the key people involved with figuring out how the problem arose, and why nothing happened in the courts to rectify it.

WPAA, which is working with the Kari Lake campaign, posted the documentary on X, along with the statement, “The movie of what the government knows, but will never admit. Kari faces defamation charges for telling the truth, while Scott Jarrett, Stephen Richer and Bill Gates continue to gaslight and lie to the public.”

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State Rep. Alex Kolodin Sentenced to 18 Months Probation by Arizona Bar for Filing 2020 Election Lawsuits

Rachel Alexander
Alex Kolodin

The State Bar of Arizona has been aggressively pursuing disciplinary charges against attorneys who challenged alleged election irregularities and illegalities in 2020 and 2022. Proceedings against State Representative Alex Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) recently concluded with Kolodin accepting an agreement that would allow him to keep his law license, instead serving probation for 18 months.

The Arizona Bar charged Kolodin (pictured above) with several rules often used to disbar conservative attorneys. As part of the agreement, Kolodin admitted his actions violated Rule 42, ERs 3.1 and 8.4(d) of the Arizona Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct. ER 3.1 prohibits attorneys from bringing “frivolous” lawsuits, and 8.4(d) prohibits attorneys from “engag[ing] in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.”

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State Bar of Arizona Finds Probable Cause Against Kari Lake’s Three Election Attorneys, Gives Them Opportunity to Admit Guilt

Rachel Alexander

The State Bar of Arizona announced that it found probable cause to pursue disciplinary charges against three attorneys representing Kari Lake in her election-related cases. The attorneys are Bryan Blehm, Kurt Olsen, and Andrew Parker. The charges relate to election lawsuits the three filed for Lake. The Arizona Bar has increasingly come under criticism for targeting conservative attorneys.

Blehm, who is accused by the Arizona Bar of criticizing the Arizona Supreme Court for setting up a disinformation task force, told The Arizona Sun Times, “If the ethical rules can be interpreted such that lawyers must remain silent in the face of unconstitutional conduct by the very courts they serve then I question the validity of those ethical rules and/or the veracity of those interpreting them. We are duty bound as attorneys to defend the Constitution of the United States of America and that is the proper function of the courts. When the courts themselves violate the Constitution somebody must say something because there is nowhere left for the people to turn. When our courts fail us, we are no longer a constitutional republic.”

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Arizona Secretary of State Allows Progressive Groups to Register Voters in Bulk Online, Then Scrubs the Groups’ Names from Its Website

Rachel Alexander

Progressive organizations are aggressively registering new voters online using special online access implemented under Democratic election officials. In Arizona, the program was launched during COVID-19 in 2020 and is open to groups that intend to register more than 1,000 voters. There was very little news coverage of the program launch other than a press release, and the names of the progressive organizations are no longer listed on the Arizona Secretary of State’s website.

Last year, the list of the progressive groups granted access under then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was prominently displayed on the site including Chicanos por La Causa, Mi Familia Vota, Equality Arizona, Inspire 2 Vote, One Arizona, Rock the Vote, and The Civics Center. Additionally, three other organizations that nominally sound nonpartisan but lean to the left were the Arizona Student’s Association, the Phoenix Indian Center, and the Arizona Center for Disability Law.

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Maricopa County GOP Passes Unanimous Resolution Calling for Impeachment of Arizona AG Kris Mayes Over Prosecution Lawfare, Hostility to Election Integrity

Rachel Alexander

The Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC) unanimously passed a resolution on December 5 calling on the Arizona House of Representatives to impeach Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes. The resolution cited Mayes’ record opposing election integrity, notably her prosecution of two Cochise County Supervisors over delaying the certification of the 2022 election for three days.

The MCRC executive board and all legislative district chairs voted for the resolution, which began, “WHEREAS, We, the Executive Guidance Committee of the Maricopa County Republican Committee, condemn Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ illegitimate political prosecution of the brave elected officials of Cochise County, Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby, for acting in accordance with their oath of office.” It accused Mayes of “abusing her prosecutorial powers as the Arizona Attorney General,” by engaging in “an act of political prosecution common in dictatorships or communist countries.”

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Former Trump DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark Appeals Denial of Removal of Bar Disciplinary Trial to Federal Court

Rachel Alexander

Jeffrey Clark, an attorney who served at high levels of the Department of Justice under former President Donald Trump, is undergoing both prosecution and bar disciplinary proceedings for his slight involvement with the 2020 election challenges. The District of Columbia Bar, its disciplinary panel, and the federal trial court judge refused to let Clark remove the disciplinary proceedings to federal court, despite the fact there is a federal law providing for removal when the actions in question involve a federal official, so Clark filed an appeal with the D.C. Court of Appeals on Thursday.

Clark is being disciplined and prosecuted for drafting a letter to Georgia election officials after the 2020 election advising them of options the Georgia Legislature could take to address the concerns about election illegalities. The letter was never sent or even circulated. 

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Arizona GOP Legislative District Passes Resolution Urging State Legislature to Oversee the Presidential Election So It Can Add Election Integrity Measures

Rachel Alexander

Legislative District (LD) 3 Republicans passed a resolution unanimously on November 30 urging the Arizona Legislature to change the procedures governing the presidential election to allow the body to administer the 2024 general election directly instead of state government. The Republicans said they believe this would allow the legislature to implement additional election integrity measures such as one-day voting and hand-counted ballots. The Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC) previously called for the Arizona Republican Party to administer the presidential preference election on August 26.

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Retired Lawyer Files Ethics Complaints Against Maricopa County Judges Who Were on the Election Ballot Yet Ruled Against Election Challenges

Rachel Alexander

Retired attorney A.S. Martin, who has closely followed the election illegalities in Arizona, filed bar complaints against 12 Maricopa County Superior Court judges who ruled on election lawsuits in 2020 or 2022 despite being on the ballot themselves for retention elections. Martin said she believes this is a conflict of interest and self-dealing since the judges had an interest in upholding the election due to wanting to retain their seats. Usually, judges easily win retention elections, but this past year was different, since progressives targeted some of them, causing three judges to lose their elections.

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Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman Files Closing Statement in Disbarment Trial, Cites ‘Orwellian’ Nature of California Bar’s Charges

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, ended November 3, with closing written arguments submitted last Friday. California Bar Disciplinary Judge Yvette Roland announced at the end of the trial that she found Eastman culpable, and will issue a written decision soon indicating whether she will fully disbar him or give a lesser punishment. Eastman is expected to appeal any negative decision.

The State Bar of California charged Eastman with violating his oath as an attorney to uphold the Constitution, by providing the Trump administration with options to handle the 2020 election illegalities that included a couple of scenarios where Vice President Mike Pence would delay or reject acceptance of the electoral slates from disputed states. 

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Honest Elections Project Meets With State Legislators at ALEC’s Annual Convention in Scottsdale, Proposes Agenda Including Stopping Ranked Choice Voting

Rachel Alexander

The American Legislative Exchange Council held their national annual conference in Scottsdale last week, which included a pre-session for legislators with the Honest Elections Project (HEP). HEP is focusing on three issues relating to elections currently, and is proposing draft model legislation that legislators can introduce on a few issues. One is Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), which is gearing up to be a huge fight on the 2024 ballot in Arizona.

Three progressive groups are pushing RCV in Arizona. However, the Arizona Legislature has also referred a proposition to the ballot in 2024 that would stop RCV. HEP has extensively looked into how RCV works, and determined that it ends up putting far left Democrats into office, not moderates as some would expect. HEP’s fact sheet went over several races where it was used and showed how it facilitates this, undermining the Constitution’s principle of one person, one vote.

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