Trump backers flood election offices with requests as 2022 vote nears
The requests for records related to the 2020 election have complicated preparations for November, which some officials say may be the point
Supporters of former president Donald Trump have swamped local election offices across the nation in recent weeks with a coordinated campaign of requests for 2020 voting records, in some cases paralyzing preparations for the fall election season.
In nearly two dozen states and scores of counties, election officials are fielding what many describe as an unprecedented wave of public records requests in the final weeks of summer, one they say may be intended to hinder their work and weaken an already strained system. The avalanche of sometimes identically worded requests has forced some to dedicate days to the process of responding even as they scurry to finalize polling locations, mail out absentee ballots and prepare for early voting in October, officials said.
In Wisconsin, one recent request asks for 34 different types of documents. In North Carolina, hundreds of requests came in at state and local offices on one day alone. In Kentucky, officials don’t recognize the technical-sounding documents they’re being asked to produce — and when they seek clarification, the requesters say they don’t know, either.
The use of mass records requests by the former president’s supporters effectively weaponizes laws aimed at promoting principles of a democratic system — that the government should be transparent and accountable. Public records requests are a key feature of that system, used by regular citizens, journalists and others. In interviews, officials emphasized that they are trying to follow the law and fulfill the requests, but they also believe the system is being abused.
“When you are asking for every single document under the sun, it becomes difficult for us to do our job,” said Claire Woodall-Vogg, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission.
Many administrators said they suspect that may be the point.
By Amy Gardner and Patrick Marley
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The Country Has Till September 2022 Before Ballots and Data from the 2020 Election Can Be Legally Deleted – We Must Obtain Forensic Copies Now
US Law requires that election records be maintained for a period of 22 months after the election. Now’s probably a good time to obtain election copies of records from the 2020 Election.
US Law requires that all voting and elections records related to federal elections like the Presidential Election must be retained and preserved for 22 months after the election.
Of course, Democrats have been trying to erase data from machines for months. This is a clear sign that there is something on those machines that the voting machine companies and the Democrats do not want Americans to see.
We also have seen situations where IT-related information has been deleted before the auditors could examine the data and devices. This happened in the Maricopa County audit.
Anyone who committed the crimes of deleting data and destroying data on machines since the 2020 Election should be arrested. This is a no-brainer. (What is the AG in Arizona waiting for?)
But equally, as important, we must all demand that our local and state election workers provide the 2020 Election ballots to independent auditors before September 3rd, 2022 or they will be lost.
We must get to the bottom of the 2020 Election so we can prevent corruption and crimes like this to never occur again.
By Joe Hoft
