BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. (AP) — The Republican National Committee on Friday launched a swing-state initiative to mobilize about 100,000 polling place monitors, election workers and lawyers to serve as “election integrity” watchdogs in November — a effort that immediately raised concerns that it could lead to harassment of election workers and undermine confidence in voting.
The RNC says its plan will help voters have faith in the electoral process and ensure that their votes matter. However, as former President Donald Trump and his allies continue to spread False claims that the 2020 elections were marked by widespread fraudThe effort also sets the stage for a repeat of Trump’s efforts to undermine the results – a strategy that ultimately led to the January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol.
Trump’s allies have already signaled that they may not accept the results if he loses to President Joe Biden.
The RNC he said His new effort will focus on stopping “Democratic attempts to bend the rules.” The party will deploy monitors to observe every step of the electoral process, create hotlines for election observers to report perceived problems, and escalate these issues through legal action.
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said Friday that the committee will place election integrity directors and advisors in 15 states, including the hottest battleground states, and will work with state parties to establish similar programs in other states.
“What we need to ensure is integrity in our electoral process,” RNC co-chair Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, said during the kickoff event in Bloomfield Hills, in a suburban county that is crucial to Michigan’s victory. “We can never go back and repeat 2020, but we can learn the lessons of 2020.”
She said most of the RNC is currently focused on the committee’s election integrity program, which she called “one of its kind.”
Both parties have a long history of organizing supporters to serve as election monitors, and the Democratic National Committee said it plans its own volunteer recruitment effort. Several election officials in presidential swing states said they feel this type of transparency and engagement is one of the best ways to help skeptics feel confident in the many safeguards built into the electoral process.
However, the language surrounding the RNC effort and the way it is being implemented could present broader concerns if it evolves beyond normal political party organization, said David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney who serves as executive director of the Center for Electoral Innovation and Research.
“Doing it in a way that feeds your voters the idea that the election will be stolen, that prepares them to be furious if your candidate loses — that could be very dangerous,” Becker said.
trump pushed false claims of voter fraud in 2016 and 2020 and continued to predict a fraudulent election if he loses this year. During a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday, he said of Democrats, “the only way they can beat us is by cheating.”
“Don’t let them cheat,” he said. “Don’t let them do anything.”
RNC leadership – which Trump handpicked in a major committee review earlier this year – followed suit in predicting the potential for crime in this year’s elections. Lara Trump qualified her response on CNN earlier this month when asked if she would accept the results.
“I can tell you that yes, we will accept the results of these elections if we feel they are free, fair and transparent,” she said. “And we’re working overtime to make sure that actually happens.”
Whatley said Friday that the RNC is focused on three priorities this cycle: pushing for election security laws such as voter ID requirements, ensuring there are observers monitoring the voting process, and talking about what he calls “voting issues.” electoral integrity.”
Democratic National Committee spokesman Alex Floyd said the DNC, “alongside our partners at the state and local level, will not allow MAGA Republicans to get away with these baseless attacks on our democracy, and we will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to ensure that every American can make their voice heard at the polls.”
The DNC said it has invested tens of millions of dollars in expanding its “I Will Vote” initiative, which includes funding efforts to support voting by mail and other voting access issues in swing states.
The RNC kickoff event took place at the headquarters of the Oakland County GOP, one of Michigan’s most influential local parties. Oakland County is an affluent suburb of Detroit that for decades was one of Michigan’s top landmark counties.
Although the county holds the largest number of Republican voters in the state, it has increasingly shifted toward Democrats in recent years, and Donald Trump lost the county in both of his previous campaigns.
The RNC has focused many of its pre-election challenges on Michigan, a state Trump narrowly won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020. review by Republican lawmakers found that there was no widespread fraud in that year’s elections and that Biden legitimately won the state. This aligns with assessments, recounts It is audits in the other swing states where Trump contested his defeat, all affirming Biden’s victory.
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Associated Press writers Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta, Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report. Swenson reported from New York.
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