Lara Trump said Tuesday that the Republican National Committee had “people capable of physically manipulating ballots” at polling places, alarming critics.
The RNC co-chair made the comment while speaking to Newsmax host Eric Bolling about the GOP’s plans for the 2024 elections.
Peddling lies about election fraud made famous by his father-in-law, Donald TrumpLara Trump discussed the RNC’s plans for a major so-called “election integrity” operation.
The RNC recently pledged to deploy 100,000 volunteers and lawyers to polling sites this year as observers to “protect the vote and ensure a big victory.”
“We now have the opportunity at the RNC to not only have poll watchers, people standing at polling places, but also people who can physically manipulate the ballots,” Lara Trump said.
It is not clear what she meant by this. The RNC did not immediately return a request for comment.
“Poll observers are NEVER allowed to touch ballots. She suggests the RNC is going to infiltrate election offices,” Marc E. Elias, a prominent Democratic elections attorney, commented on X, formerly Twitter, in response to a clip of Lara Trump’s remarks.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian and expert on authoritarianism, wrote on ? This seems to me to be a perfect authoritarian election plan.
What does this mean, they will have thugs to physically take the ballots to make sure they are marked for Republican candidates? This seems to me to be a perfect authoritarian election plan. https://t.co/yWbJfxt7w7
– Ruth Ben-Ghiat (@ruthbenghiat) April 24, 2024
Other prominent social media commentators called it “scary” and a public display of planned “election interference.”
Poll observers are usually appointed by both political parties to monitor the administration of elections and, sometimes, voter turnout. They can report problems or irregularities to authorities and election officials.
Specific regulations differ from state to state, but poll watchers are prohibited from interfering in any way with the election process, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
From 1982 to 2017, the RNC was under a court order restricting the activity of Republican election observers after Democrats sued and accused the RNC of using voter intimidation tactics against minorities in 1981. A judge refused to extend the consent decree in 2018.
Lara Trump went on to seemingly reference this, albeit inaccurately.
“So there’s been about a 40-year moratorium on RNC training to people working in these polling places and in the tabulation centers where the mail-in ballots come in,” she said. “And last year the judge who implemented this measure died, so this measure was lifted.”
“And that gives us great capacity as we head into what I guess everyone understands is the most important election of our lifetimes,” she added, telling viewers they wanted to avoid a “repeat” of 2020.
Michael Steele, an outspoken Trump critic who chaired the RNC from 2009 to 2011, clarified the remark.
“Lara, do you know why there was ‘a moratorium on the RNC for 40 years’? Because the RNC was caught cheating,” he posted on X.
Lara, do you know why there was “a moratorium on the RNC for 40 years”? Because the RNC was caught cheating. The RNC was subject to a 1982 consent decree for voter caging. Voter caging hinders an eligible voter’s ability to cast a ballot. The process involves efforts to identify and… https://t.co/57Xu3m1Uur
-Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) April 24, 2024
The Trump family and its allies have set the stage to falsely accuse election fraud again if he loses to President Joe Biden a second time in the November election.
Trump was criminally charged in two indictments for his attempts to overturn the last presidential election.
Separately, he is currently facing criminal trial in New York for allegedly falsifying business records in an attempt to hide secret financial transactions that could have influenced the outcome of the 2016 election.
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