{"id":130084,"date":"2022-11-03T17:30:33","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T17:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=130084"},"modified":"2022-11-03T17:30:33","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T17:30:33","slug":"republican-door-knockers-intimidate-voters-while-hunting-for-voter-fraud-say-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/republican-door-knockers-intimidate-voters-while-hunting-for-voter-fraud-say-officials\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican door knockers intimidate voters while hunting for voter fraud, say officials"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Reuters) – The canvassers in California\u2019s Shasta County in September wore reflective orange vests and official-looking badges that read \u201cVoter Taskforce.\u201d Four residents said they mistook them for government officials.<\/p>

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A cyclist rides past political signs ahead of the November 8, 2022, U.S. midterm elections in the New York City suburb of Palisades, New York, U.S., October 27, 2022. REUTERS\/Mike Segar\/File Photo\/File Photo<\/figcaption>

But the door knockers didn\u2019t explain where to vote or promote a candidate, the usual work of canvassers ahead of a big election.<\/p>\n

Instead, they grilled residents on their voting history and who lived in their homes, probing questions that might have violated state laws on intimidation and harassment, according to the county\u2019s chief election official.<\/p>\n

At one house, they interrogated a couple about the whereabouts of their adult daughter. At another, they listed names of registered voters and demanded to know if they still lived at the address.<\/p>\n

The incidents highlight how a once-routine staple of American elections — door-to-door canvassing — has been adopted by former U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s supporters since the 2020 election to prove his baseless claims of voter fraud, or potentially disenfranchise voters by stoking doubts about voter registration books.<\/p>\n

In at least 19 states, pro-Trump canvassers are using their findings to press election officials to clean up what they claim are inaccurate voter-registration lists, saying they could open the door to fraudulent voting.<\/p>\n

In at least one state, Michigan, they plan to use their list of alleged irregularities to challenge voters in the Nov. 8 election.<\/p>\n

Canvassers believe such efforts are uncovering evidence that voting machines were rigged in 2020 to steal the election from Trump, according to a review by Reuters of the groups\u2019 literature and reports.<\/p>\n

But the activists often seem more interested in undermining confidence in U.S. democracy than trying to improve it, said Arizona\u2019s Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican. \u201cThey\u2019re hoping that we fail. They\u2019re hoping that mistakes occur and they\u2019re even trying to do things to disrupt the system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In Shasta County, a rugged, mountainous region of more than 180,000 people where pro-Trump Republicans dominate the local government, clerk Cathy Darling Allen said she noticed problems in the middle of September when three residents complained about canvassers on Facebook.<\/p>\n

When Allen contacted the voters, they all asked whether the county had sent the canvassers. Allen replied that the visitors had nothing to do with her office.<\/p>\n

A week later, a fourth resident called police when canvassers showed up at his door and demanded voting information that made him suspicious, according to a report by the Redding Police Department.<\/p>\n

In a public statement issued Sept. 26, Allen warned that canvassers\u2019 actions amounted to intimidation and violations of election laws. \u201cI was very concerned that it would have a chilling effect on people\u2019s willingness to be registered to vote, and that\u2019s not OK,\u201d she said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Reuters identified at least 23 state-wide or local efforts where canvassers may have crossed the line into intimidation, according to election officials and voting rights lawyers. Some carried weapons, wore badges, asked people who they\u2019d voted for or demanded personal information, election officials said.<\/p>\n

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 civil rights groups, said it has received more such reports than in previous elections. \u201cThese tactics are very concerning,\u201d said YT Bell, an election adviser for the coalition.<\/p>\n

WORKING FOR THE GOVERNMENT?<\/h2>\n

The visits can prompt confusion, officials say, as canvassers sometimes give the false impression that they are working for the government \u2013 which is illegal.<\/p>

Slideshow ( 2 images )<\/span><\/figcaption>

The questions they ask can cross the line into illegal voter intimidation, said Rupa Bhattacharyya of Georgetown Law School\u2019s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.<\/p>\n

Canvassers claim to have discovered thousands of inaccurate voter registrations across the country since the 2020 election, inundating officials in some states with requests to strike those voters from the rolls.<\/p>\n

In Delaware County, Pennsylvania, elections director James Allen said his office had already identified many of the 12,763 ineligible voters, who an election denying group said no longer lived in the state, and had removed them from the rolls. The request came too late, he said, as federal law prohibits removing groups of registered voters within 90 days of an election.<\/p>\n

Door-knocking campaigns have been encouraged by some of Trump\u2019s staunchest allies. Pillow company owner Mike Lindell, a wealthy champion of election fraud theories, has hosted televised conferences where activists tout their canvassing findings. Steve Bannon, a former top advisor to Trump, called for a \u201c50 state canvas\u201d on his podcast a year ago.<\/p>\n

Douglas Frank, a Lindell ally and Ohio math and science teacher who travels the country promoting debunked theories that voting machines were hacked in 2020, has cheered on local canvassing teams.<\/p>\n

Bannon declined to comment. Lindell said a group he backs, Cause of America, does not organize canvassing but provides an online library of \u201cvoter crime.\u201d Frank did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

\u2018A GOOD BONFIRE\u2019<\/p>\n

Wearing a red-white-and-blue bow tie, Frank traveled to Shasta County in September to address a Sept. 13 meeting of county supervisors.<\/p>\n

Frank said he would compile a list of addresses to help local canvassers uncover \u201creal actionable election fraud,\u201d according to a recording of the meeting on the county website. Two people at the meeting said they had started visiting properties to root out illegally registered voters. One of them, when contacted by Reuters, declined to comment.<\/p>\n

At a local church hours later, Frank told a group that advertised itself as the \u201cElection Taskforce\u201d that Shasta\u2019s conservatives had \u201ca good bonfire going\u201d and urged them \u201cto throw a little gasoline on it,\u201d according to a video of the speech viewed by Reuters.<\/p>\n

Alarmed by the call for aggressive canvassing at the supervisors\u2019 meeting and in Frank\u2019s church speech, Shasta\u2019s clerk Allen wrote federal, state and local law enforcement on Sept. 15, saying the canvassing \u201clikely constitutes one or more crimes\u201d under California law regarding voter intimidation.<\/p>\n

The county prosecutor\u2019s office told Reuters that it was aware \u201cof the recent concerns\u201d and that \u201call potential violations submitted to the office will be thoroughly reviewed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018MET WITH OPEN ARMS\u2019<\/p>\n

In Oregon\u2019s Douglas County, 85-year old retiree Nan Isaacson said she became involved in a door-knocking effort in her home city of Sutherlin after watching videos on a Lindell-backed election-conspiracy website that claimed without proof that ballots in 2020 were altered in China to help Democrat Joe Biden win the election.<\/p>\n

That prompted her to volunteer for a local \u201cvoter integrity\u201d committee, which armed her with official-looking forms asking residents to swear \u201cunder penalty of perjury\u201d to verify their voting activity in the 2020 election. Reuters reviewed copies of the forms.<\/p>\n

During a canvas of eight houses in her neighborhood, four voters signed forms claiming they didn\u2019t receive the correct ballot in the 2020 election, or didn\u2019t get ballots at all.<\/p>\n

Isaacson described the residents as happy to cooperate. \u201cWe were met with open arms,\u201d she said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Douglas County Clerk Dan Loomis said he received complaints from voters who said they felt intimidated by the canvassers, including one who called to ask if his office was behind the effort. \u201cI don\u2019t think the canvassers have the intention of spreading intimidation, but their actions can be construed as intimidating by some of the folks out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In Colorado, a group called the U.S. Election Integrity Project (USEIP) also sent canvassers that voters mistook for county employees, according to four county clerks interviewed by Reuters.<\/p>\n

Voters reported that USEIP canvassers wore badges and carried guns on occasion in 2021, according to clerks in Pueblo and El Paso counties. This August, people affiliated with USEIP were also canvassing in La Plata County, according to the county clerk. USEIP co-founder Holly Kasun told Reuters that local activists operate independently from the group.<\/p>\n

Three civic organizations sued USEIP in March, alleging that the Colorado group\u2019s door-knocking activity was intimidating voters. But a federal judge refused to halt the activity, saying he saw no evidence the canvassing was continuing or had intimidated voters. The case is headed for trial.<\/p>\n

The canvassing by loosely connected networks of pro-Trump Republican activists is separate from Republican Party efforts such as promoting candidates or seeking tighter voting laws.<\/p>\n

The Republican National Committee does not engage in election-integrity canvassing and does not coordinate with outside groups, a spokesperson told Reuters.<\/p>\n

But in at least one case, local Republican Party officials appear to be involved.<\/p>\n

At an Oct. 11 public meeting in Lane County, Oregon, the head of the county Republican organization, John Large, accused local officials of ignoring the results of their canvas, which they said uncovered hundreds of suspect registrations. Lane County Clerk Dena Dawson said she did not have the authority to unilaterally remove names from voting rolls.<\/p>\n

In Michigan, activists plan to go further. A group called the Election Integrity Force says it plans to field election challengers in each of the state\u2019s 83 counties to raise objections to people they suspect are not legally registered to vote.<\/p>\n

Those election challengers will be equipped with lists of ineligible voters, culled from their canvas and voter roll findings, said Sandy Kiesel, the group\u2019s director, who ran unsuccessfully in August to be a Republican Party candidate for the state legislature.<\/p>\n

Under state law, an election challenger can raise an objection to a voter if he or she has good reason to believe the voter doesn\u2019t live there or is otherwise unqualified. The election official on site then settles the complaint.<\/p>\n

Michigan\u2019s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson told Reuters that clerks \u201care prepared to reject challenges that lack substance and eject challengers who repeatedly issue them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Reuters) – The canvassers in California\u2019s Shasta County in September wore reflective orange vests and official-looking badges that read \u201cVoter Taskforce.\u201d Four residents said they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":130083,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRepublican door knockers intimidate voters while hunting for voter fraud, say officials - Fin2me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/republican-door-knockers-intimidate-voters-while-hunting-for-voter-fraud-say-officials\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Republican door knockers intimidate voters while hunting for voter fraud, say officials - 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