Category: Election Integrity

Arizona Senate Government Committee Advances Seven Election Integrity Bills

Rachel Alexander

One of the biggest priorities in the Arizona Legislature this year is election integrity, due to concerns about fraud in the 2020 Arizona presidential election. Legislators have dropped many bills to combat voter fraud, with seven passing out of the Senate Government Committee on Monday.

Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, who has been one of the strongest proponents of cleaning up election fraud, including helping get an audit launched into the Maricopa County 2020 election, told The Arizona Sun Times, “It is encouraging to see our state legislators taking action and focusing on election integrity. The objective information from the Arizona Audit — America’s Audit — is showing us the way to make voting more secure. These bills are yet another reason why the full forensic audit was justified.”

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Leads Coalition to Defend North Carolina’s Voter ID Law at the Supreme Court

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is getting involved in another fight to combat election fraud, this time leading a coalition of eight other attorneys general in an amicus curiae brief at the Supreme Court regarding North Carolina’s voter ID law. They argued in Berger v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP that North Carolina’s General Assembly should be able to defend the law in court instead of Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, since he opposed the law.

“It is incumbent on public servants to stand up and defend laws when others cower to political pressure,” Brnovich said in a statement. “I am proud that our recent win at the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ability of states to administer elections and pass laws to protect the results.”

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Exclusive: Blystone Whistleblower’s Attorney Ridicules Blystone’s Suit to Have Court Dismiss Complaint

Neil W. McCabe

The attorney for Sarah Chambers, the whistleblower, and former co-campaign manager for Joseph K. Blystone’s gubernatorial campaign, told The Ohio Star Blystone’s lawsuit filed Tuesday asking the court to order the Ohio Elections Commission to dismiss Chambers’ Oct. 28 51-page complaint against him is a futile and desperate exercise.

“The old saying is, if the facts are on your side, you pound the facts. If the law’s on your side, you pound the law. If neither the facts nor the law is on your side, you pound the table,” said Scott A. Pullins, the Mount Vernon lawyer, who has for many years represented candidates, campaigns and political action committees.

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Ken Cuccinelli Headlines Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Election Integrity Panel

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) held a forum on Tuesday entitled “Restoring Election Integrity in Arizona.” Former Republican official Ken Cuccinelli and other panelists discussed how the left started dominating elections, left-wing lawfare, poll observer problems, what’s going on at the federal level, and solutions to fix voter fraud.

Cuccinelli, who served as the deputy secretary of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump and as the Attorney General of Virginia, is now the national chairman for the Election Transparency Initiative. He warned that the Democrats have moved far to the left in recent years, and no longer want to uphold the Constitution with its voting protections and delegation of voting administration to the states. “They don’t believe the U.S. is great. They don’t like the Constitution.” 

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Exclusive: Cyber Ninjas CEO Says Hostile Reporters Never Gave The Maricopa County Audit Fair Coverage

Neil W. McCabe

The founder and CEO of the Sarasota, Florida, based Cyber Ninjas told The Star News Network that politically-motivated reporters let their bias taint their coverage of his company’s audit of the ballots from the 2020 presidential voting held in Maricopa County, Arizona.

One of the frustrating parts of his effort to be open and transparent with the public was the constant twisting of facts and events by journalists, who were opposed to the audit from the very beginning, despite their protestations that they were objective, said Doug Logan, the Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina, graduate, who founded the company in 2013.

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Exclusive: Cyber Ninjas CEO Says Arizona Senate Shut Down Firm Not Leftwing Judge

Neil W. McCabe

The Founder and CEO of Cyber Ninjas, the cybersecurity firm tapped by the Arizona State Senate to audit Maricopa County’s 2020 presidential election tallies, told The Star News Network his company shut down because the Republican-controlled State Senate did not fulfill its contractual obligations to the firm.

“At the end of the day, this is the call of Senator Fann,” said Doug Logan, speaking of Arizona State Senate President Karen Fann. Logan told employees in early December that the company would close its doors unless the State Senate fulfilled its contractual obligations.

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John Solomon: Whistleblower Admits He Was Paid $45k to Illegally Ballot Harvest in Georgia 2020 Presidential Election and 2021 Senate Runoffs

Admin

Just the News founder and Editor in Chief John Solomon appeared on The John Fredericks Show Wednesday morning to discuss his breaking story involving a massive ballot harvesting ring in Georgia exposed by the election integrity group True the Vote. 

In all, the number of illegally cast ballots could number as high as 1,000,000, at a cost, one whistleblower says, of $10 per ballot.

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War Room Pandemic: Steve Bannon Talks Mask Victory, Election Integrity, and Pennsylvania Governor Run with Jake Corman

Julie Carr
Jake Corman and Steve Bannon

  Stephen K. Bannon welcomed Pennsylvania’s President Pro Tempore and Gubernatorial candidate, Jake Corman on Monday’s War Room: Pandemic to discuss his latest school mask mandate victory, restoring election integrity, and his commitment to do so. Bannon: Pennsylvania Senate. A key figure back in the three November movement. Remember he was one of the leaders that sent a letter to the Senate that day to say hey, we’ve had some discrepancies. We need some time to think through how these electors were certified. It’s Senator Jake Corman. Senator, you had a massive victory last week. We tried to get you on but I know you were traveling. School mask mandates struck down by Pennsylvania supreme court. Walk us through how you blew up the Wolf administration in Pennsylvania about this. This is a huge victory for parents and a bigger victory for our school children, Senator Corman. Corman: Yeah, thanks, Steve. Great to be with you as always. A great victory for the people of Pennsylvania. The people of Pennsylvania made a historic vote back in May to limit the governor’s powers during these emergency times because he unilaterally governed here for over a year. The people of Pennsylvania rejected…

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‘America First’ Candidate Lou Barletta in Pennsylvania’s Gubernatorial Race Talks Election Integrity, Qualifications, and State Energy Resources

Julie Carr
Lou Barletta

  On Monday’s Outside the Beltway with John Fredericks on Real America’s Voice News, Fredericks talks with Pennsylvania Gubernatorial America first candidate Lou Barletta to explain why he’s the best choice for governor of Pennsylvania and the importance of election integrity. Fredericks: Joining me now, one of our best friends. We call them F.O.J. Friend of John. Not many people have that moniker, but certainly, Lou Barletta does. Lou Barletta is the Former Mayor of Hazelton, Pennsylvania. Long history. The Mayor of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, made his name by stopping illegal immigrants from coming in and destroying his town, ran for Congress, became a member of Congress fighting illegal immigration in the House of Representatives. Then he ran for the U.S. Senate got totally screwed by everybody three ways to Wednesday. Lost that race. But now he’s back and running for governor of Pennsylvania. And there’s a bunch of people in there, including Jake the Snake and others. So it’s a big field. But Lou Barletta is with us now. Lou, I’m really excited about the fact you’re in this race. It’s going to be fun because my wife, Anne, and I were just as you know, we’re just in the…

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Law Professor John Eastman on Steve Bannon’s War Room Explains Why Pelosi’s January 6 Select Committee is Not Legitimate

Julie Carr

  Stephen K. Bannon welcomed Conservative attorney, legal scholar, and professor of law John Eastman on Monday’s War Room: Pandemic to explain his attorney’s letter to Congress citing the illegitimacy of his subpoena regarding the January 6 committee hearings. Bannon: I’m going to start with John Eastman. God do I love this guy. John Eastman, Raheem Kassam, and the great team over at the National pulse have a story. Because I never talk about this stuff because I’m focused on destroying brick by brick this radical regime that is the Biden administration and proud of it. So suck on that Democrats. Embrace the suck. But there is a huge story up here about your lawyer and something destroying the January 6 subpoenas. Can you walk us through here what’s gone on here sir? I’m going to put it up on the screen in Denver and all of our platforms so people can see it in our live chat. John Eastman, the floor is all yours. Eastman: I love that headline. John Eastman’s Lawyers Just Destroyed the January 6 Committee and its Subpoenas. Look, what we discovered looking into this, and I should say that I like you were subpoenaed to…

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Michael Patrick Leahy Talks About Pop Up Nonprofits Used for Partisan Political Purposes

Julie Carr

  In a special interview, Thursday on First Principles with Phill Kline – host Kline talked with Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO, and editor-in-chief of The Star News Network who uncovered partisan non-profit popups in swing states and the importance of election integrity as the deciding fate of America’s constitutional Republic. Leahy: And it turns out, Phill, as you see the story in Michigan, it was the only state where that Center for Election and Innovation and Research money did not go to the Secretary of State. Now, if it goes to the Secretary of State, it’s discoverable how it was spent. Kline: Right. Leahy: It went to a shell 501 (c) (3) organization that has been around about ten years that had been established by the current Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. And they got $12 million bucks. They sent it to a 501 (c) (3) called the Michigan Center for Election Administration. We just got a copy of their Form 990s from the IRS. And – here’s the punch line – that $12 million dollars was basically all spent in two different groups. $11.8 million dollars went to a Democrat media buy firm that’s a subsidiary of the…

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Major Conservative Groups Join Arizona Legislators to Launch New Arizona Voter ID Ballot Initiative Effort

Rachel Alexander

A coalition of conservative organizations is working with Arizona Republican legislators to put the Arizonans for Voter ID Act on the ballot next fall. The initiative will require voter ID on mail-in ballots, improve existing in-person voter ID requirements, prevent ballot harvesting by enhancing voter ID requirements for in-person ballot drop off, and provide a free voter ID option to lawfully registered Arizona voters who need it for voting. 

Scott Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, which is spearheading the initiative, said in a statement, “This initiative will ensure that no matter when you vote, where you vote, or how you vote, identification will be required.” The AFEC went on, “Arizonans use these forms of identification commonly in their everyday lives to purchase alcohol or cigarettes, obtain a driver’s license, board a commercial flight, donate blood, open a bank account, purchase a firearm, receive unemployment benefits, obtain auto insurance, purchase or rent a home, confirm identity over the phone, and many other basic transactions.”

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Georgia Public Broadcasting Reveals Secretary of State Raffensperger Delivered Some Fulton County Absentee Ballot Chain of Custody Documents to Them in April

Laura Baigert

An interview between The Georgia Star News and Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) News revealed that they had received Fulton County’s drop box absentee ballot transfer forms from the Secretary of State’s office in April.  GPB News, however, did not report on their findings until after The Star News report in June.

Stephen Fowler of Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) News requested an interview with John Fredericks, which also included Laura Baigert, of The Georgia Star News, as part of his fact-check for a story and to get comments from everyone involved.

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Status Update: The Maricopa County Ballot Audit

Rachel Alexander

The ballot audit in Maricopa County is winding down, and as details leak out from the counting and analysis, it is becoming clear what many of the problems are that will need addressing. Some could be honest mistakes, such as voters marking their ballots incorrectly, but others could be far more serious.

Arizona Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott) listed off several discrepancies in a letter to the Maricopa County Supervisors on May 12, such as different numbers of ballots in the boxes than the numbers listed on the pink sheets inside the boxes. She cited several examples, including one box that contained an alarming 35 fewer ballots than the number on the pink slip.

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GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Vernon Jones Calls for ‘An Immediate Forensic Audit of the Georgia 2020 Election’

Julie Carr

Georgia GOP gubernatorial candidate and former State Rep. Vernon Jones called for “an immediate for an immediate forensic audit of the Georgia 2020 election” at a press conference on Wednesday. Here is a transcript of that press conference: Jones: The integrity of our election is nonnegotiable. It is non-negotiable. Zero room. And that is where I’m here today to call for an immediate forensic audit of the Georgia 2020 election. In recent weeks, I found myself troubled by the recent findings coming out of Arizona as they conduct forensic audits of their own led by their state legislatures. From this audit, previously unknown findings have since come to life, including reports of missing ballots, broken seals on the boxes and containers that contain them, and wholly deleted databases of information related to this election. That is not right. Let me make one thing clear. There’s no place in Georgia elections for those types of shenanigans. And the findings of such an audit will paint a clear road map where we must go from here in terms of further reform to safeguard our election process. Since day one, my campaign had made a commitment of integrity to this election while Brian…

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Nashville Business Coalition Attorney Jamie Hollin on the Davidson County Election Commission: Your Process is Flawed

Julie Carr
Jamie Hollin

  Nashville Business Coalition Attorney Jamie Hollin addressed the Davidson County Election Commission on Saturday. Here is a transcript of his comments: Hollin: Excuse me, Mr. Chairman, I represent an organization and I would like an opportunity for no more than three minutes and if that will help persuade you as the winning lawyer of lawless and FOP. I have to tell you that the preceding general election for this purpose is the August 2020 general election. Commissioner: Okay. What organization is that? Hollin: I represent the Nashville Business Coalition. Commissioner: Okay, alright. Commissioners, what is your pleasure? Herzfeld: I would like to hear from Mr. Hollins. Commissioner: Ok. Is that…Okay. Alright. Hollin: We have new members Mr. Chairman and I want to let them know and I’ll let professor Lumpstein know, too. Good afternoon Mr. Chairman and commissioners. For some less, this feels like deja-vu all over again. Rest in peace, Yogi Berra. I’m Jamie Hollins on behalf of the Nashville Business Coalition and as we mentioned, I litigated those cases you’ve been reading about and lectured to beginning to end and they all started right here. And as the Chairman said there is no question it’s going to…

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Georgia State Senate Report: Election Results Are ‘Untrustworthy;’ Certification Should Be Rescinded

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The chairman of the judiciary subcommittee in Georgia that examined evidence of fraud in the 2020 election, has released a scathing 15-page report calling the results of the 2020 election, “untrustworthy” and recommending that the certification of the results be rescinded.

Georgia State Senator William T. Ligon, Chairman of the Election Law subcommittee, reached that conclusion after reviewing the recount process, the audit process, current investigations taking place, and litigation that is moving forward. His Subcommittee also heard testimonies from witnesses during an open hearing at the Georgia State Capitol on Thursday, December 3, 2020.

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Viral Video Alleged Gov. Whitmer Sent Health Officials to Bar Poll Challengers in Detroit

Corinne Murdock

In viral video posted Wednesday afternoon, a woman alleged that Governor Gretchen Whitmer had ordered health officials to block poll watchers and challengers from entering a Detroit ballot counting facility.

The woman, Connie Johnson, shot the video using Facebook Live. She showed herself standing on the second floor of the TCF Center in Detroit. The following is her account of the ballot counting on Wednesday afternoon in Detroit.

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Lynchburg Republican Party Loses Lawsuit Against Registrar’s Office Over Ballot Counting Practices

Corinne Murdock

The Lynchburg Republican Party lost in its lawsuit against the Lynchburg Registrar’s Office over ballot counting practices in this election. The two went to trial on Monday.
The lawsuit alleged that the registrar had failed one day to process absentee ballots with a Republican representative present, and had also failed to notify Republican representatives of preprocessing last Friday. The judge ruled in favor of the Lynchburg Registrar’s Office in under several hours.

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Tennessee’s Democratic Representatives Cohen and Cooper Fear-Monger Voters Ahead of Election Day

Corinne Murdock

Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) and Jim Cooper (D-TN-05) tweeted that voters should be fearful heading into Election Day. Both representatives issued their remarks on the day before the election.

The tweets from Cohen and Cooper reflect one of two messages: encouraging individuals to submit their votes and questioning the integrity of the election. The day before Election Day, Cohen suggested that the election’s aftermath should be feared.

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Over 200 ‘Adorable Deplorables, Chumps, and Uglies’ Show Up to Virginia Beach Trump Rally

Corinne Murdock

Well over 200 people showed up on a rainy, gray Sunday to a Trump Rally supporting their Republican candidates: Scott Taylor for Congress and Daniel Gade for Senate. The rally took place inside the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. 

Virginia Beach attorney Tim Anderson hosted the rally, with The Star editor-in-chief and Trump Virginia Delegation Chairman John Fredericks emceeing.

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Rep. Steve Cohen and Democrats Accuse White House Press Secretary of Violating Hatch Act

Corinne Murdock

Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) and other Democrats have accused White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany of violating the HATCH Act. Cohen retweeted an article from The New York Times that accused McEnany of breaking the law.
“Kayleigh McEnany’s violations of the #HatchAct would be a scandal in any other administration,” wrote Cohen. “Grifters and miscreants. Utterly appalling. #CultureOfCorruption”

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Turning Point USA Hosts Debate Watch Party with Speakers Including John Rich, Tomi Lahren, and Dr. Carol Swain

Corinne Murdock

Ahead of the third and final presidential, Turning Point USA of Nashville hosted a debate watch party downtown. Speakers included country star John Rich, “Final Thoughts” political commentator Tomi Lahren, First Liberty Institute President and CEO Kelly Shackelford, Students For Trump co-founder Ryan Fournier, pro-life advocate Victoria Robinson, world-renowned eye surgeon and public speaker Dr. Ming Wang, and famed conservative public intellectual Dr. Carol Swain. 
The idea for the event came about three to four weeks ago, according to Turning Point USA Belmont President Jeffrey Seraphine. Ahead of the debate, Seraphine told The Tennessee Star that the speakers volunteered their time when asked.

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Lynchburg Registrar’s Office on Allegations of Improper Absentee Ballot Counting: ‘We Will Do Better in the Future’

Corinne Murdock

The Lynchburg Registrar’s Office maintains that allegations of improper absentee ballot counting were a result of an unintentional oversight of ballot law. No Republican officials were present per The Code of Virginia.
On Monday, the only workers present to process absentee ballots were “non-party affiliation.” Emails shared with The Virginia Star reveal that some of these workers had identified as Democrats up until last year.

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Lynchburg Registrar Accused of Counting Absentee Ballots Illegally Without Republicans Present

Corinne Murdock

The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) and the Lynchburg Republican City Committee are accusing the Lynchburg Registrar’s Office of violating election laws by counting absentee ballots without Republicans present. Individuals who previously registered as Democrats for years assisted in counting ballots, this time registered as “non-party affiliation.”
65 of the “non-party affiliation” individuals were Democrats last year.

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Virginia GOP to Mark Herring on Ballot Fraud: ‘You’re in Contempt!’

Corinne Murdock

The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) filed a lawsuit last week against Virginia’s Attorney General (AG) Mark Herring for failing to communicate changes to the witness voter requirement.

In August, Herring agreed with a federal judge to drop the witness voter requirement. It appears that these changes weren’t communicated well across the state. The RPV cites accounts of voters confused because their ballot language contradicts their voter instructions.

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Local Officials Report Virginia Election System Malfunctioning – Election Commissioner Says It’s ‘Fine’

Corinne Murdock

Elections officials report that Virginia’s critical election system is malfunctioning during early voting, and worry it could fail on or before Election Day.
This isn’t the first time the Virginia Election and Registration Information System (VERIS) has presented issues. A 2018 report recommended the legislature replace VERIS. Specifically, the report stated that the system couldn’t be relied upon for elections.

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Gade Abandons Trump on Key Immigration Policy in First Debate U.S. Senate with Warner

Corinne Murdock

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Republican challenger Daniel Gade appeared virtually on NBC4 for their first debate. NBC News’ Chuck Todd moderated the debate from Washington, D.C. with a live Zoom audience.
Topics included the Supreme Court nominations, COVID-19, the digital divide, policing, racial justice, immigration, and the election.

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Minnesota Secretary of State Sends Letters Telling Those Who Haven’t Requested Absentee Ballots to Vote from Home

Corinne Murdock

Minnesota’s Secretary of State Steve Simon is sending letters telling those who haven’t requested an absentee ballot to vote from home. An estimated 2.3 million voters will receive the letter and an absentee ballot application.
The letter asserts that staying safe and keeping other citizens healthy “means voting from home.” 

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Michigan and Ohio Secretaries of State Endorse Zuckerberg’s Millions Directed to Elections

Corinne Murdock

Michigan and Ohio state secretaries Jocelyn Benson and Frank LaRose endorsed $300 million directed to elections by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. The Center for Tech and Civil Life (CTCL) and Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) announced Tuesday that Zuckerberg and his wife donated in order “to promote safe and reliable voting in states and localities.”

Both Benson and LaRose agreed that the investment was necessary considering the pandemic’s effects on the presidential election. LaRose reposted the press release the day it came out, citing the need for accurate information during voting.

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Law Criminalizing Use of False Language in Campaign Literature Ruled Unconstitutional by Davidson County Judge

Sam Medley

A group that called a political candidate “literally Hitler” in a flyer won its case challenging a law that criminalizes the use of “false language” in campaign literature. The judge presiding over the case, which was heard Thursday, called the law “incompatible with the First Amendment.”

Tennesseans for Sensible Elections Laws (TSEL), an organization that describes itself as “a nonpartisan group of concerned citizens who care about protecting Tennessee’s democratic process,” was subject to criminal penalties for a political flier claiming that Representative Bruce Griffey was “literally Hitler.”

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Tennessee Supreme Court Hears Case Concerning Availability of Absentee Ballots for All Tennesseans

Sam Medley

The Tennessee Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday concerning the citizens’ right to vote via absentee ballot.

The cases presented (Earle J. Fisher et al. v. Tre Hargett et al. and Benjamin Lay et al. v. Mark Goins et al.) have become the focal point of the ongoing debate surrounding the efficacy of absentee and mail-in ballots and voters’ rights to absentee and mail-in ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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North Carolina House Elections Committee Chairs Announced

A.P. Dillon

North Carolina’s Speaker of the House Tim Moore has announced the appointment of State Representatives Holly Grange (R-D20) and Destin Hall (R-D87l) as co-chairs of the North Carolina House Committee on Elections and Ethics Law. “These two House members have a strong legal background and will be an integral part of how we restore confidence in our elections systems in North Carolina,” state House Speaker Tim Moore said in a statement. The new co-chairs replace former long-time chair David Lewis (R- D53). Representative Lewis, having been reappointed, will continue as chairman of the House Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House. In the statement put out by the Speaker’s office, Grange said the committee will be holding oversight hearings which will look into absentee ballot laws and practices. “We saw this election cycle and in previous years that there are unacceptable gaps in the integrity and reliability of our elections systems,” Representative Grange said. “It is our duty as state lawmakers to identify those concerns and address them through oversight and legislation on behalf of our constituents and their confidence in North Carolina’s democratic process,” Grange said. Representative Hall, who is a practicing attorney from Lenoir, North Carolina,…

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North Carolina Misses Federal Subpoena Deadline to Turn Over Voter Information

A.P. Dillon

North Carolina state officials have missed the deadline to turn over voter information requested by the federal office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The two federal grand jury subpoenas were issued in September 2018 and requested five years worth of voter and ballot data from 44 counties. In addition, the subpoenas also requested eight years of data for voters statewide and eight years of data from the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The DMV criteria are lengthy but include anyone registering to vote who indicated that they were born outside of the United States, dealt with immigration services, used foreign documents to try to register, or had their applications rejected. The subpoenas can be accessed below: ICE DMV Subpoena ICE Elections Records Subpoena In a letter to the North Carolina State Board of Elections Attorney Joshua Lawson dated September 6, 2018, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sebastian Kielmanovich agreed to postpone fulfillment of the subpoenas until January 2019 due to the upcoming election. The letter also states that the postponement is agreeable only if North Carolina preserves the records being requested. The subpoenas were originally sent on August 31, 2018 to the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE),…

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Nearly 1-in-3 Los Angeles County Voters Will Be Purged from California Voter Rolls in Landmark Settlement Agreement

Anthony Gockowski

The State of California settled a lawsuit with the Election Integrity Project California (EIPCa) Friday and has agreed to remove as many as 1.5 million inactive registrants from the Los Angeles County voter rolls. EIPCa filed suit against the state in August 2017 and alleged that California was not “following the requirements of Section 8 of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA),” which requires states to reasonably maintain state and county voter registration rolls. According to EIPCa, the settlement means that Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan (pictured above) must immediately begin following federal mandates for “identifying and removing deceased, moved, and other ineligible registrants,” which is estimated to be as many as 1.5 million. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that Los Angeles County has a population of 10.1 million, and 5.2 million are registered voters, according to Logan’s office. That means up to 28.8 percent – nearly a third – of registered voters in Los Angeles County were ineligible registrants. “Because of the powerful and overwhelming evidence provided by EIPCa, this was an exceptionally strong case,” Linda Paine, president of EIPCa, said in a press release late Friday. “California’s voter rolls are unforgivably bloated, a situation that…

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Republican Files Legal Action in Chaotic North Carolina Congressional Race

A.P. Dillon

The North Carolina State Board of Elections still has not certified its Ninth Congressional District race and one of the candidates is now taking legal action. Republican Mark Harris announced his intentions Wednesday evening to take legal action in the NC-09 race. On Thursday his campaign filed a Writ of Mandamus, which is an order from a court that instructs another government official to correct an abuse of discretion or ensure they properly fulfill their official duties. In a press release, the Harris camp said the filing of the Writ was in response to the cancellation of a January 11 hearing on the NC-09 investigation and lack of transparency by the State Board of Elections. “The State Board of Elections has not disclosed any information to suggest that the votes in question in the Board staff’s investigation are sufficient in number to change the outcome of the 9th Congressional District election,” the Harris Campaign said in the statement. “We applaud Congressman-Elect Mark Harris’ campaign for taking this important action to make sure the more-than 750,000 people in the Ninth Congressional District are represented in Congress,” said a statement from the North Carolina GOP. Harris won the NC-09 race by 905 votes…

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Minnesota Secretary of State Unveils Plan to Restore Voting Rights to 60,000 Felons

Anthony Gockowski

Secretary of State Steve Simon (D-MN) unveiled his “Investing in Democracy” 2019 agenda during a Thursday press conference where he announced plans to restore voting rights to felons after they are released from prison. Currently, Minnesota is one of 22 states that revokes voting rights for felons during incarceration and for any periods of parole or probation thereafter. Simon’s office estimates that this means there are roughly 60,000 Minnesotans who have been released from prison, but are still ineligible to vote because they are on probation or parole. There are only two states, Maine and Vermont, in which felons never lose the right to vote, while at least 14 states restore voting rights immediately upon release, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. “Investing in democracy also means investing in people,” Simon said Thursday. “These are people who have served their time already and are working to establish or reestablish themselves in their communities. Minnesotans, I think, believe in second chances, and believe in forgiveness, and restoring the right to vote at the end of a prison term will give real opportunities to those who have left prison behind to become full members of their communities.” Simon also argued…

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North Carolina Becomes 35th State to Enact Voter ID Law as Legislature Overrides Democrat Governor’s Veto

Anna Marie Bolton

On Wednesday, the North Carolina Republican House followed the Senate in sending a major rebuke to Democrat Governor Roy Cooper by making voter photo identification law. In November voters of the state approved a constitutional amendment requiring identification to vote beginning next year. By vetoing the Republican bill, the Democrat governor was attempting to stall debate on the matter until next year when Republicans will no longer hold a veto-proof majority and the bill would likely be watered down. Republicans blasted the governor for his comments about the bill when he said the “fundamental flaw in the bill is its sinister and cynical origins” suggesting that a bill requiring voters to identify themselves in order to vote “was designed to suppress the rights of minority, poor and elderly voters.” Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, chairman of the House Committee on Elections and Ethics Law, said before the vote, My district is full of good, hard-working, well-intentioned people – there is nothing sinister or cynical about them. The governor does not have a problem with this legislature, he has a problem with his citizens. This bill does exactly what the people of this state wanted us to do.” The debate in the…

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