SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Supporters of then-President Donald Trump bang on the glass and chant slogans outside the room where absentee ballots for the 2020 general election are being counted at TCF Center on November 4, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Tapes Expose GOP Plot to Install Poll Workers in 'Massive Election Subversion Program'
Recordings obtained by Politico detail strategy by GOP operatives to disrupt upcoming elections.
Jun 01, 2022
New reporting on Wednesday exposes a strategy by Republican Party operatives to disrupt upcoming elections in strongly Democratic areas that includes mobilizing "an army" of GOP-friendly lawyers ready to aid newly recruited poll workers positioned on the frontlines of this year's midterms.
The "huge story" by Heidi Przybyla at Politico is based on multiple recordings from meetings lead by GOP operatives over the past year.
"Being a poll worker, you just have so many more rights and things you can do to stop something than [as] a poll challenger," RNC's election integrity director for Michigan Matthew Seifried said at one of the meetings.
The strategy detailed by Przybyla follows previous reporting on a so-called "precinct strategy" being promoted by Republicans like far-right nationalist Steve Bannon, former President Donald Trump's adviser, to get GOP recruits into election worker positions.
That strategy has been endorsed by the former president and is already being rolled out in states including Michigan, a battleground state that CNN has described as "a microcosm of a broader, nationwide strategy being carried out by Trump" and his allies.
Part of the multi-pronged strategy detailed in the new reporting is "a network of party-friendly district attorneys who could intervene to block vote counts at certain precincts."
The poll worker recruits are also being instructed on "how to challenge a voter," and would have at their disposal a hotline so that they could chat in real time with a party-aligned lawyer.
"Installing party loyalists on the Board of Canvassers, which is responsible for certifying the election, also appears to be part of the GOP strategy," Politico reported. "In Wayne County, which includes Detroit, Republicans nominated to their board a man who said he would not have certified the 2020 election."
The implications of all the plans could be massive disruption to voters which could then be used "as a vehicle for rejecting vote counts from that precinct."
It could lead to a "massive failure of certification" in Democratic precincts and subsequently "throw the choosing of electors to state legislatures," the reporting added.
Nick Penniman, founder and CEO election watchdog group Issue One, told the outlet, "This is completely unprecedented in the history of American elections that a political party would be working at this granular level to put a network together."
Marc Elias, founder of media platform Democracy Docket, said the GOP plan was "what I have been warning about for months."
"Republicans are planning a massive election subversion program," Elias tweeted. "We need to shine a spotlight on it, prepare for it, and realize that much of the fight will be in court."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
New reporting on Wednesday exposes a strategy by Republican Party operatives to disrupt upcoming elections in strongly Democratic areas that includes mobilizing "an army" of GOP-friendly lawyers ready to aid newly recruited poll workers positioned on the frontlines of this year's midterms.
The "huge story" by Heidi Przybyla at Politico is based on multiple recordings from meetings lead by GOP operatives over the past year.
"Being a poll worker, you just have so many more rights and things you can do to stop something than [as] a poll challenger," RNC's election integrity director for Michigan Matthew Seifried said at one of the meetings.
The strategy detailed by Przybyla follows previous reporting on a so-called "precinct strategy" being promoted by Republicans like far-right nationalist Steve Bannon, former President Donald Trump's adviser, to get GOP recruits into election worker positions.
That strategy has been endorsed by the former president and is already being rolled out in states including Michigan, a battleground state that CNN has described as "a microcosm of a broader, nationwide strategy being carried out by Trump" and his allies.
Part of the multi-pronged strategy detailed in the new reporting is "a network of party-friendly district attorneys who could intervene to block vote counts at certain precincts."
The poll worker recruits are also being instructed on "how to challenge a voter," and would have at their disposal a hotline so that they could chat in real time with a party-aligned lawyer.
"Installing party loyalists on the Board of Canvassers, which is responsible for certifying the election, also appears to be part of the GOP strategy," Politico reported. "In Wayne County, which includes Detroit, Republicans nominated to their board a man who said he would not have certified the 2020 election."
The implications of all the plans could be massive disruption to voters which could then be used "as a vehicle for rejecting vote counts from that precinct."
It could lead to a "massive failure of certification" in Democratic precincts and subsequently "throw the choosing of electors to state legislatures," the reporting added.
Nick Penniman, founder and CEO election watchdog group Issue One, told the outlet, "This is completely unprecedented in the history of American elections that a political party would be working at this granular level to put a network together."
Marc Elias, founder of media platform Democracy Docket, said the GOP plan was "what I have been warning about for months."
"Republicans are planning a massive election subversion program," Elias tweeted. "We need to shine a spotlight on it, prepare for it, and realize that much of the fight will be in court."
New reporting on Wednesday exposes a strategy by Republican Party operatives to disrupt upcoming elections in strongly Democratic areas that includes mobilizing "an army" of GOP-friendly lawyers ready to aid newly recruited poll workers positioned on the frontlines of this year's midterms.
The "huge story" by Heidi Przybyla at Politico is based on multiple recordings from meetings lead by GOP operatives over the past year.
"Being a poll worker, you just have so many more rights and things you can do to stop something than [as] a poll challenger," RNC's election integrity director for Michigan Matthew Seifried said at one of the meetings.
The strategy detailed by Przybyla follows previous reporting on a so-called "precinct strategy" being promoted by Republicans like far-right nationalist Steve Bannon, former President Donald Trump's adviser, to get GOP recruits into election worker positions.
That strategy has been endorsed by the former president and is already being rolled out in states including Michigan, a battleground state that CNN has described as "a microcosm of a broader, nationwide strategy being carried out by Trump" and his allies.
Part of the multi-pronged strategy detailed in the new reporting is "a network of party-friendly district attorneys who could intervene to block vote counts at certain precincts."
The poll worker recruits are also being instructed on "how to challenge a voter," and would have at their disposal a hotline so that they could chat in real time with a party-aligned lawyer.
"Installing party loyalists on the Board of Canvassers, which is responsible for certifying the election, also appears to be part of the GOP strategy," Politico reported. "In Wayne County, which includes Detroit, Republicans nominated to their board a man who said he would not have certified the 2020 election."
The implications of all the plans could be massive disruption to voters which could then be used "as a vehicle for rejecting vote counts from that precinct."
It could lead to a "massive failure of certification" in Democratic precincts and subsequently "throw the choosing of electors to state legislatures," the reporting added.
Nick Penniman, founder and CEO election watchdog group Issue One, told the outlet, "This is completely unprecedented in the history of American elections that a political party would be working at this granular level to put a network together."
Marc Elias, founder of media platform Democracy Docket, said the GOP plan was "what I have been warning about for months."
"Republicans are planning a massive election subversion program," Elias tweeted. "We need to shine a spotlight on it, prepare for it, and realize that much of the fight will be in court."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.