‌‌‌‌‌The Big Lie Is On The Ballot

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Hello readers!

It’s a big week for election deniers on the ballot. We’ll take a look at a few key races.

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Alright, let’s dig in.

Multiple States Will Vote On 2020 Election Lies

Across the country Tuesday, Republican voters will have the chance to reject election denialism. But chances for Trumpian election lie devotees look pretty good.

The marquee nomination will likely come from ARIZONA, where State Rep. Mark Finchem (R), a longtime Oath Keepers member and Trump endorsee, is one of several election deniers running to manage Arizona’s elections. Fellow Trump endorsees and election deniers Kari Lake and Blake Masters are expected to win the nominations for governor and U.S. senator, respectively, as well. 
 

In MINNESOTA, Mike Lindell’s attorney Doug Wardlow is running in the Republican attorney general primary, promising to imprison people for “attempting to rig our elections.” KANSAS Secretary of State Scott Schwab (R) faces a challenge from Mike Brown, whose website features a campaign video with the title cards “mysterious voters,” “irregularities,” “red flags,” and “the danger is real.”

It’s not just the candidates: In MICHIGAN – where several election deniers are running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination – secretary of state Jocelyn Benson (D) says her office has made preparations for “any attempts to block the certification of our elections.” I interviewed one new county canvassing board member in the state last year. He told me, first, that he thought there was a good chance “things were not legal” in 2020, and second, that he hadn’t actually read most of the affidavits he’d cited to make that point, because “that’s a real time-consuming thing there.”

Abortion Rights Are On The Ballot Tuesday

KANSAS residents will decide Tuesday whether to affirmatively empower the legislature to outlaw abortion in the state, or to maintain the status quo, which would uphold the state constitution’s protections for abortion access through 22 weeks of pregnancy.

There’s lots of pro-choice energy in the state – those who are urging a “NO” vote on the proposed constitutional amendment – particularly after the elimination of Roe v. Wade’s protections. But it’s an uphill battle: As we’ve previously reported, new voter suppression laws made it more complicated for voting rights groups to register voters. 
 

Anti-choice groups are working the refs, too: A prominent group of right-wing activists recently pressured Sedgwick County’s election commissioner to remove drop boxes from a Democratic-leaning district in the county. That effort has not been successful – a judge recently dismissed an anti-drop box lawsuit after 15 minutes of deliberation – but it shows the lengths to which the anti-choice side will go, especially in potential new lawsuits or appeals should pro-choice voters come out on top Tuesday. 

Around The States

Republicans in GEORGIA are taking advantage of a new law empowering citizens to challenge each others’ voter eligibility, putting thousands of Georgians at risk of disenfranchisement. 
 

The Otero County, NEW MEXICO commission – which includes Jan. 6 defendant Couy Griffin – voted recently to discontinue the use of voting machines. But, as it turns out, that’s not really up to them.

Four WISCONSIN voters with physical disabilities are suing to ensure they can still vote after the state’s Supreme Court ruled against unmanned ballot drop boxes, and also against a third party – such as a partner or roommate – returning a voter’s absentee ballot to election clerks for them. 
 

Also in Wisconsin, a Dane County committee report urged more security measures to protect election workers. 
 

The Senate Rules Committee has scheduled a Wednesday hearing to discuss the bipartisan legislative package aimed at reforming the Electoral Count Act, the 135-year-old law Donald Trump tried to exploit in order to steal a second term. 
 

The U.S. Postal Service is creating an election mail division. 

The Latest In Election Sabotage

ARIZONA gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is alleging voter fraud before her primary election even happens, which is a classic move by now. Just ask Larry Elder or Amanda Chase, or, of course, Donald Trump. If the candidate loses, they have a record of lying to point to as part of a challenge to the legitimate election results. And if their side wins — as in Chase’s case, regarding her claims that now-Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) was a pre-emptive victim of Democratic cheating – it’s proof that Republican vote totals were just too massive for the cheating Democrats to overcome. 
 

Tina Peters, the conspiracy-minded county clerk in COLORADO currently facing felony charges for alleged identity theft and other crimes – part of an alleged effort to circumvent her county’s election security protocols that ended with a harmful leak of election machine data – has forked over a quarter-million dollars to have her unsuccessful secretary of state primary bid recounted.
 

A WISCONSIN judge slammed Republicans’ “investigation” of the 2020 election, saying that it had not only uncovered no evidence of voter fraud, but also that taxpayers had spent thousands of dollars for the lead investigator, Michael Gableman, “to sit in the New Berlin library to learn about election law because he knows nothing about election law.”
 

Also in that state, a so-called “constitutional” sheriff in Racine County named Christopher Schmaling has sought to have the state’s top election officials charged with felonies. But when a right-wing activist lied on absentee ballot forms and submitted ballot requests in the name of Wisconsin’s Assembly speaker and a local mayor? Schmaling loved it. 

Grid: Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne was one of Trump’s wealthiest election deniers. He has some big plans for the 2022 midterms.
 

Reuters: A far-right sheriff crusades to prove Trump’s bogus voter-fraud claims
 

NPR: Election deniers are running to control voting. Here’s how they’ve fared so far
 

The Atlantic: How Six States Could Overturn the 2024 Election
 

WRAL: Threats, intimidation and legal action. Skeptics strain NC election workers

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