It was widely believed that the 2024 election would be fairly run by the majority party. But so-called “election integrity advocates” who believe 2020 was stolen are already making plans for 2025.
Juana Summers, host:
The 2024 election is widely considered a success, with majorities in both major political parties saying they believed it was well-run and fair. But those who advocate so-called election integrity are not winning. NPR obtained audio showing how people who think 2020 was stolen are already making plans for 2025. NPR poll correspondent Miles Parks has the audio, and he’s here in the studio. hey there.
MILES PARKS, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
Summers: So Miles, tell me about this audio.
Parks: So this is a recording of an ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) meeting. This is a conservative organization that helps state legislators develop policy. We obtained this secretly recorded audio from the monitoring group Documented. And that audio is from a panel put together by Cleta Mitchell, a conservative election lawyer who was a central figure in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Listeners may remember that she took that call after the 2020 election, when President Trump tried to pressure Georgia election officials to find votes. Although she is not an employee of ALEC, her Election Integrity Network is highly influential in policy-making for the sort of election-denier wing of the Republican Party.
Summers: Understood. Miles, what is her main message?
PARKS: So even though the election was a success for Donald Trump and other Republicans, the message was that big changes were still needed in the election. One interesting point Mitchell made is that he wants to target election officials who go out of their way to make voting easier or register new voters.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
Cleta Mitchell: Your job is to administer elections according to the law and to treat all voters and groups of voters the same. Your job is not about turnout.
Parks: As you know, Republicans have been successful this election cycle in an environment of very high voter turnout. Mr. Trump won over voters with low propensity. But Mr Mitchell’s comments suggest this wing of the party remains wary of policies that could draw new people to the electorate.
Summers: Okay. So what changes are Mitchell and his group trying to advance on the policy front?
PARKS: So in advance of this meeting, she released a document outlining many of her policy priorities. Some of the things that are there are even elections — which many election experts would put off — such as election offices sharing data with state DMVs to keep addresses up to date. It also includes things like But she also wants the U.S. to return to one-day in-person voting. And more importantly, she wants to add new restrictions and new requirements on the documents people need to register to vote.
So, broadly speaking, the tone of this panel was the idea that election administration is still a mess. And Mitchell and I were emailing about this this week, and she said the reason this year’s election went so well was because people like her and her advocacy groups were hawking election officials. He said it was because he was watching over him.
Summers: Yes. But Miles, I know this because you reported it for us. This intense scrutiny has led to intimidation and harassment of some local election officials and clerks. Was that a topic at this meeting?
Parks: It was, and they basically said it wasn’t really happening. You know, the next few years are going to be very, very similar to the riot at the Capitol on January 6th, when you see President Trump and some advocacy groups trying to cover up what’s going on locally. It’s going to be interesting. Because, as you mentioned, we know from news reports and survey data that many of their lives have been transformed by this campaign. Here you can hear Sharon Bemis, a former city official who now works for Cleta Mitchell’s group, talk about what she calls the threat from election officials.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
Sharon Bemis: Many of us are familiar with the story of threats that have become very prominent. If you look at your condition, you will see that it is unfounded. If you ask for a police report related to threats against election officials, you’ll find that it’s extremely rare.
PARKS: Now, Bemis’ organization did not respond to NPR’s request for comment, but during this panel discussion, Bemis told the members in attendance that election officials are more vulnerable to harassment and intimidation than others. I specifically told them not to pass a bill that provides too many protections.
SUMMERS: NPR’s Miles Parks. thank you.
Parks: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF CURREN$Y AND STATIK SELEKTAH SONG “GRAN TURismo”)
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