Election Day is nearly upon us and Democrats are finally telling Americans what their top priority will be if they win the White House and Congress this November. It isn’t securing the border, tackling inflation, or even enshrining on-demand abortion.
No, if Democrats win big in November, their first move will be <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4942046-voting-rights-bill-priority-house-democrats-majority/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passing</a> a new bill to launch a federal takeover of elections. Democrats have tried this before, repeatedly trying to ram through Congress numerous versions of a bill called <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1?s=2&amp;r=1">H.R. 1</a>, an 800-page grab bag of Left-wing election “reforms” that fundamentally rewrite the nation’s voting laws. Democrats claim this is just about voting rights. In truth they are once again aiming to launch a partisan power grab that sacrifices the integrity of American elections to give liberals a permanent political edge.
What might be in this bill? Based on Democrats’ proposals in the last Congress, Americans should be ready for the messy rules of COVID-style mail-in voting permanent. States would not only be required to offer no-excuse mail-in voting, but the option to permanently vote by mail. At the same time, it would be harder to clean bloated voter rolls than it already is, all but guaranteeing that people will stay on the rolls — and states will keep sending them ballots — long after they move or pass away.
Speaking of dirty voter rolls, Democrats want to require automatic voter registration, an error-prone practice that <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/automatic-voter-registration">half</a> our states currently do not use. Democrats know automatic systems register ineligible people. In fact just weeks ago, <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2024/09/23/voter-registration-noncitizen-oregon-motor-voter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oregon</a> admitted its system automatically registered roughly 1,300 noncitizens. That’s why they slipped a little-known provision into H.R. 1 that prevents anyone, including noncitizens, from being prosecuted if they illegally vote after being automatically registered.
Their bill would erase laws against organized vote harvesting in roughly two dozen states. Democrats want to deploy an army of party operatives and union organizers to “help” voters fill out ballots, then collect and return them. The trouble is, vote harvesting creates obvious opportunities for voter intimidation and fraud. One shocking example: the <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/louisville/news/press-releases/former-mayor-of-martin-sentenced-to-90-months-for-civil-rights-offenses-fraud-vote-buying-and-identity-theft">mayor</a> of Martin, Kentucky bribed and coerced poor and disabled voters into casting absentee ballots in favor of her reelection. In North Carolina, harvesters tampered with or destroyed <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/four-people-plead-guilty-north-carolina-ballot-probe-2016-2018-electio-rcna49534" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hundreds of votes</a>, forcing a high-profile redo of a congressional election in 2018. 
Democrats’ proposals would have made voter ID requirements illegal, too. Time and again, ID laws have been shown to have no negative impact on turnout. Thirty-six states have ID laws and 90% of the public <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/overwhelming-majority-of-americans-want-voter-id-proof-of-citizenship-to-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">favors them</a>, but Democrats think they know better. Not only does H.R. 1 treat practically any document with a name and address as ID, it <a href="https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/s2747/BILLS-117s2747pcs.pdf">introduces</a> a bizarre new standard that lets anybody who claims to know a voter “for at least six months” vouch for his identity. Try that at your local bank.
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a></h3>
The problems would only get worse as elections draw to a close. Most states <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/table-11-receipt-and-postmark-deadlines-for-absentee-mail-ballots" target="_blank" rel="noopener">require</a> ballots to be received by the close of polls on Election Day, but Democrats tried to force every state to accept ballots up to seven days late. That’s the deadline in California, a state that routinely takes weeks to report results. If Democrats rewrite the nation’s laws, delays risk becoming the new national norm. That’s especially true as the Left nudges more people towards mail-in ballots, and liberal groups push <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-scam-gop-senator-blasts-ranked-choice-voting-after-alaska-democrat-wins-house-seat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ranked-choice voting</a> (RCV) into more states. After all, with RCV, tabulation cannot even begin until every ballot is received.
The other provisions of Democrats’ voting bills are far-reaching, including mandates for 24-hour drop boxes with little thought given to security beyond labeling them “secure.” States must offer same-day registration, even though officials have little or no time to verify a voter’s eligibility before he casts a vote. New redistricting rules would give liberals the upper hand in drawing political maps. And campaign finance laws like the DISCLOSE Act would undermine Americans’ free speech and privacy rights.
To pass any voting bill, Democrats would first need to go nuclear on the Senate filibuster. Democrats tried to ax it once before, but two Senate Democrats — Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema — bucked their party and held the line.
But neither senator will be in office next year and progressives sense an opportunity. Senate Democrats and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/24/kamala-harris-filibuster-abortion-rights-00180699" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kamala Harris</a> have made <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democrats-gear-overhaul-senate-filibuster-major-bills-win-2024-rcna152484" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eliminating</a> the filibuster a campaign issue. Once it goes, a federal takeover of elections, statehood for D.C., Supreme Court “reform,” and more all become possible on a purely partisan basis.
Ronald Reagan once observed that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” That timeframe may be generous. Progressives are signaling that our republic is never more than one election away from a fundamental reorganization.
When Democrats say that democracy is on the ballot, they mean it. If Americans want to stop Congress from rewriting out voting laws, the best thing to do this November is vote Republican.
* * *
Jason Snead is the executive director of Honest Elections Project Action.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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The Pennsylvania Democratic Party sued Erie County, Pennsylvania, on Monday, alleging that up to 20,000 voters have not received mail-in ballots with less than a week to go until Election Day.
Erie, a bellwether county in the battleground state, has received around 52% of the 38,000 mail-in ballots that were requested, according to the lawsuit, which added that Erie County is 15 percentage points behind the statewide average for mail-in ballots received, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/30/us/politics/pennsylvania-ballot-delays-lawsuit.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. More than 500 voters in Erie have contacted a hotline set up by Democrats &#8220;because they either received an incorrect mail-in ballot or have yet to receive any mail-in ballot whatsoever,&#8221; the suit alleges.
The Erie County Board of Elections issued a statement on Tuesday, saying it was “acutely aware that many voters in Erie County have not received their requested mail ballots.” In response, the board is allowing voters who applied for a mail ballot and did not receive one to go to the county election office through Monday to obtain a ballot.
Earlier this month, nearly 300 voters in Erie County incorrectly received duplicate ballots, forcing the Board of Elections to contact them to ensure that they did not vote more than once, WPXI <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/nearly-300-duplicate-ballots-incorrectly-sent-erie-voters-after-vendors-addressing-system-fails/E5XTI4KOLNAOHG72LOKAZ26GCA/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“The board has internal mechanisms in place to further ensure this does not occur. The board is committed to the integrity of the upcoming General Election and is confident that it has taken all steps necessary so that these duplicate ballots will not affect the outcome of the election in any way,” the board stated.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Erie County, located in the northwest corner of the state, has a population of just under <a href="https://www.goerie.com/story/news/local/2024/03/20/erie-county-pa-us-census-data-estimate-population-trend-2023/72969171007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">270,000</a> people as of the 2022 U.S. Census Bureau&#8217;s estimate. In 2016, on his way to winning Pennsylvania and the presidency, former President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won</a> Erie by nearly 2,000 votes over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-pennsylvania.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost</a> Erie to President Joe Biden four years later by fewer than 1,500 votes. Biden also went on to win Pennsylvania in 2020.
On Wednesday, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-campaign-says-it-won-battle-in-pennsylvania-early-in-person-voting-can-continue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">celebrated</a> a legal win in Pennsylvania, which will extend &#8220;early in-person mail-voting through November 1st — three extra days,&#8221; according to RNC Chairman Michael Whatley. The Trump campaign sued Bucks County, Pennsylvania, after voters were allegedly turned away from early voting, which ended on October 29.

Erie County

Dems Sue Major PA Battleground County Over Its Handling Of Mail Ballots

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The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/republican-national-committee-rnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican National Committee</a> on Monday asked the Supreme Court to block a ruling in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pennsylvania</a> that said provisional ballots should be counted for voters who submit their mail-in ballot incorrectly. 

The <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A408/330400/20241028123538606_Genser%20-%20SCOTUS%20Stay%20Application.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeal</a> from the RNC comes after a 4-3 <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/republicans-supreme-court-pennsylvania-provisional-ballots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decision</a> last week from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that ruled that election officials must count the provisional ballots of voters whose mail-in ballots are rejected because they did not follow legal guidance for the ballot. The RNC argues that Pennsylvania law does not list mail-in ballot error as a legitimate reason for allowing provisional ballots. 
“Weeks after mail voting began in Pennsylvania — and less than two weeks before Election Day — a sharply divided 4-3 Pennsylvania Supreme Court departed from the plain terms of the Election Code to dramatically change the rules governing mail voting,&#8221; the legal filing from the RNC said. “It did so in the midst of the ongoing General Election in which millions of Pennsylvanians have already cast ballots for President, U.S. Senate, Congress, and scores of state and local offices.”
The order from the state Supreme Court said that provisional ballots must be counted for individuals whose mail-in ballots were rejected for a mistake such as a no signature, date, or secrecy envelope. Lawyers for the RNC say that Pennsylvania law stipulates that casting an invalid mail-in ballot is not an excuse for provisional voting. 
“When the legislature says that certain ballots can never be counted, a state court cannot blue-pencil that clear command into always. And here, the General Assembly could not have been clearer,” the lawyers wrote. “This case is of paramount public importance, potentially affecting tens of thousands of votes in a State which many anticipate could be decisive in control of the U.S. Senate or even the 2024 Presidential Election.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
The RNC said that the Supreme Court should at least order provisional ballots received from individuals with invalidated mail-in ballots to be separated from the official count during ongoing litigation. 
The controversy in Pennsylvania began after the Court of Common Pleas sided with the Butler County Board of Elections&#8217; decision not to count the provisional ballots of several voters who had their mail-in ballots rejected during the primary election earlier this year. 
The Supreme Court was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/its-commonsense-virginia-asks-scotus-to-allow-removal-of-non-citizens-from-voter-rolls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">also asked</a> on Monday to intervene in Virginia, where a judge has ordered the commonwealth to put non-citizens back onto its voter rolls after the Biden administration sued.

Election Officials Demonstrate Ballot Counting In Philadelphia Ahead Of Presidential Election

RNC Asks Supreme Court To Intervene In Pennsylvania Provisional Ballot Fight

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Nevada&#8217;s Supreme Court ruled that mail-in ballots received after the election without postmarks must be counted, upholding a lower court’s ruling just days prior to the general election, in which Nevada is a key swing state.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that absentee mail-in ballots postmarked before Election Day can be received up to four days after November 5, and that even mail-in ballots without a postmark can be accepted and processed for up to three days after November 5, <a href="https://www.8newsnow.com/news/politics/nevada-supreme-court-rules-mail-in-ballots-without-postmarks-can-be-counted-after-election-day/">CBS 8 News Now</a> reported.
Earlier this year, James Russell, Carson City District Court Judge, issued a ruling on the issue, saying, “The public interest is served by ensuring that the maximum number of legitimate voters are counted,” and adding that not counting absentee ballots without postmarks would “disenfranchise voters,” the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/3206140/republicans-lose-challenge-over-late-mail-ballots-in-nevada/">Washington Examiner</a> noted.
The announcement comes months after former President Donald Trump’s campaign — along with the Republican National Committee and the state’s Republican Party — filed a lawsuit against Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) and several county clerks, arguing that the state&#8217;s mail-in ballot deadline was unconstitutional.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump are in a tight battle in the swing state, and the polls continue to show the presidential candidates are basically in a dead heat in Nevada.
Last week, a federal appeals court in Mississippi ruled in the GOP’s favor in another suit that argued mail-in ballots received after Election Day were illegal, The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4954413-federal-appeals-court-rules-mississippi-mail-ballots/">reported</a>.  However, it is unclear if that ruling will affect the 2024 election. The current law allows for mail-in ballots to be received for up to five days after Election Day.
Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel that, “Federal law requires voters to take timely steps to vote by Election Day. And federal law does not permit the State of Mississippi to extend the period for voting by one day, five days, or 100 days. The State’s contrary law is preempted.”
“Congress statutorily designated a singular ‘day for the election’ of members of Congress and the appointment of presidential electors,” the panel added. “Text, precedent and historical practice confirm this ‘day for the election’ is the day by which ballots must be both cast by voters and received by state officials.” 
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley released a statement about the Mississippi ruling, calling it a “major win for election integrity, upholding the law and commonsense ballot safeguards.”
“Voters deserve nothing less than a fair and transparent election which ends on November 5,” Whatley wrote. “We will continue to defend the law, fight for protection of every legal vote, and stop election interference in our country’s most important election.” 
The appeals court ruling now sends the decision back to the lower court to decide whether the statute will be blocked immediately or whether it’s too close to Election Day 2024 to make the changes, The Hill noted.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/officials-in-arizonas-maricopa-county-say-counting-ballots-could-take-up-to-13-days" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Officials In Arizona’s Maricopa County Say Counting Ballots Could Take Up To 13 Days</a>

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Nevada Supreme Court Rules On Counting Ballots Received After Election Day Without Postmarks

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Local <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colorado">Colorado</a> election officials launched an investigation this week after they discovered that at least 12 mail-in ballots for the 2024 election had been stolen and turned in and multiple were counted as legitimate votes.
The voter fraud <a href="https://www.kkco11news.com/2024/10/24/fraudulent-ballots-caught-by-election-officials-mesa-county-reports-secretary-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was flagged</a> by election officials in Mesa County, a Republican-dominated area in western Colorado, on Tuesday due to signature verification measures. One of the ballots was flagged after a voter tracked the ballots and saw that it had been cast even though they had never received their ballot. 
“I am fully committed to ensuring the integrity and security of our elections. We are currently investigating attempted election fraud,” said Republican Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Bobbie Gross. 
Three ballots were counted as legitimate and cannot be voided though the voters can cast another ballot, NBC <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/colorado-election-officials-fraudulent-ballots-rcna177153" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The ballots were reportedly flagged by the signature verification process, but were approved by an election judge, who has since been “reassigned,” according to Colorado Public Radio.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, said that while it was “unfortunate” that the ballots had been counted, the state’s election &#8220;system did work,&#8221; adding that they were still determining motive. Which candidates the ballots were marked for was not disclosed by the officials. 
Griswold <a href="https://www.coloradosos.gov/pubs/newsRoom/pressReleases/2024/PR20241024BallotFraud.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the investigation on Thursday, which Gross suggested may compromise the county’s criminal investigation. 
“Our priority is to handle this investigation with the utmost care and diligence, and I believe that prematurely releasing details could compromise our ability to hold those responsible accountable,” Gross said. “While we understand the Secretary of State’s desire to make public statements, this is our community and our investigation.”
Gross said that the county would share further information on the investigation when “it is responsible to do so.” 
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“It is critical that we follow proper procedures to ensure a thorough and effective investigation without tipping off those involved,” she said. “The people of Mesa County deserve transparency and accountability, but it must be done in a manner that protects the integrity of the investigation.”
“We ask for patience as we proceed with caution to ensure a just and fair outcome for our community,” Gross added. “I am committed to transparency and will provide updates as the situation evolves.”
Over 27,000 votes have already been counted in Mesa County, which went for former President Donald Trump by almost 30 points in 2020. A previous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swing-state-voters-receive-mail-ballots-for-relatives-who-died-moved-away" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Wire investigation</a> documented that people across the country had been receiving ballots for others who had moved away or even people who had died.

Voters Cast Ballots In The Colorado Primary Election

Investigation Launched After Election Officials Say 12 Mail Ballots Fraudulently Cast In Colorado

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An 81-year-old <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/illinois" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illinois</a> man was shocked to receive a mail-in ballot for his wife, who died in October 2022. 
George, who lives in Kane County about 50 miles west of Chicago, showed The Daily Wire the ballot which he found in his mailbox on Saturday. He also received a ballot addressed to his late wife ahead of the Illinois primary in March. This was especially confusing, George said, because he had shown his wife&#8217;s death certificate to Kane County election officials — who also told The Daily Wire that George’s wife was no longer on the voter rolls.
The saga has George concerned about the integrity of the presidential election — and he&#8217;s not alone. Voters in several swing states have reached out to The Daily Wire to share stories like George&#8217;s, and raise concerns about what&#8217;s going on with mail-in ballots.
“There are states that do better than others in terms of identifying and removing all forms of inaccurate voter registration,” says Honest Elections Project executive director Jason Snead, adding that there are “widespread” issues with voter rolls throughout the country. 
<div id="attachment_805023" style="width: 1450px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-805023" class="size-full wp-image-805023" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/BALLOT-REDACTED-.jpg" alt="" width="1440" height="1080" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/BALLOT-REDACTED-.jpg 1440w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/BALLOT-REDACTED--300x225.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/BALLOT-REDACTED--768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px" />Photo of ballot sent from George to Daily Wire.</div>
George, who has lived in Illinois for over six decades, said his ballot issues began with the 2022 midterms, when he got to his polling place on Election Day, only to be told he couldn’t vote in person because he had a pending mail-in ballot. 
In the end, George said he had to go home and pick up his mail ballot, which he hadn&#8217;t used, and take it in to get it voided. He also brought the ballot that had been sent to his late wife, which he said really “upset” the election officials. He said he was eventually able to vote, but only after about 45 minutes of discussions with election officials and showing his wife’s death certificate to have her ballot voided.
While Illinois law allows voters to request permanent mail-in vote status for primary and general elections, George told The Daily Wire that he never signed up to get a mail-in ballot, and always votes in person.  
“My assumption is that they are just sending everyone they can think of a ballot,” George said. 
Kane County Clerk John Cunningham told The Daily Wire that George’s wife was no longer on the rolls, and that the county’s signature verification process would have caught any attempted voter fraud. 
“Even if someone got a ballot and they mailed it in, and filled it out, it would not be counted because the signature would not be right,” he said. “Because we check for signature on our voter database with the signature on the ballot and if they don’t match, then we don’t count them.”
He said that he did not know how she could have ended up with a ballot for the primary election.  
“She’s not on our records, so I don’t know how she would have gotten that,” he said, but said he couldn’t tell when she was removed from the record. 
Several current and former Arizona voters told The Daily Wire they have received ballots for people who had moved out of the state.
Skyler, a former Army medic, told The Daily Wire that he and his wife have received 2024 mail-in ballots from Arizona at their home in Colorado, where he is now registered to vote. Previously a resident of Maricopa County, Skyler said that he voted absentee throughout his military career before retiring in May 2024, when he registered to vote in Colorado. 
Despite changing his voter registration and informing Maricopa County that he was no longer an Arizona voter, Skyler said that received mail-in ballots for both the July primary election and the November general election. He doesn&#8217;t know how Maricopa County got his Colorado address.
Another Maricopa County resident told The Daily Wire they had been receiving a ballot for their daughter for the past three years, even though she had moved to Utah. They said they returned the ballots every year, indicating that their daughter no longer lived there, but that they still had been receiving her ballot. 
One Maricopa County woman told The Daily Wire that she had received a ballot to her home for her son for years, as recently as the 2024 primary elections, even though he had lived in Alabama for six years. 
According to Arizona law, voters on the Active Early Voting List (AEVL) are automatically <a href="https://azsos.gov/elections/voters/early-voting">sent</a> a ballot “for all elections in which they are eligible to vote.” However, voters are <a href="https://elections.maricopa.gov/voting/active-early-voting-list.html">supposed</a> to be taken off the list if they do not vote in two consecutive federal elections. 
“A voter may be removed from AEVL if the voter does not cast an early ballot in at least one candidate election over the course of two consecutive federal election cycles and fails to respond to an official notice from the Elections Department,” Maricopa County’s election website says. 
&#8220;If you don’t vote the ballot, why do they keep sending you one?” the concerned Arizonan asked, noting that her son has not voted in the 2018, 2020, or 2022 federal elections, but received a ballot for the 2024 primaries. 
She said that she also had received a ballot for a prior resident of a home she and her husband had purchased in Tucson. She said this raised concerns about how many ballots may be floating out there for people who have not moved out of Arizona, or even to a different home. 
When asked about concerns with mail-in ballots, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office said voters could “fill out a voter cancellation form” online and pointed to the county&#8217;s “voter list maintenance practices” posted online. 
“Under Recorder [Stephen] Richer, more than 400,000 voters have been removed from our voter rolls due to diligent list maintenance. Our office reviews multiple databases to ensure our voter rolls remain as accurate as possible,” the recorder’s office told The Daily Wire in a statement. 
Voting by mail in Arizona begins on October 9. The deadline to request a ballot by mail is October 25. 
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With just 34 days until the election, issues with mail-in ballots have begun to make headlines. Last week, election officials in Madison, Wisconsin, sent out 2,215 duplicate ballots to the heavily-Democratic city. 
“This was a mistake,” said city spokesman Dylan Brogan. “The clerk’s office moved to rectify it as quickly as possible.”
In response, Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) has <a href="https://tiffany.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/tiffany.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Madison_Clerk_Duplicate_Ballots.pdf">called</a> for an independent investigation into the incident, saying that voters “deserve clear answers regarding the full scope of this blunder.”
In Pennsylvania, another battleground state, the Republican National Committee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rnc-says-pennsylvania-county-ignored-state-law-before-sending-out-mail-in-ballots" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed a lawsuit</a> last month alleging that Montgomery County officials had sent out 2024 election ballots without conducting accuracy testing required by state laws. The suit said that the county, the commonwealth&#8217;s third most populous, did not conduct logic and accuracy tests before sending out absentee ballots.
Former President Donald Trump has long raised concerns about mail-in voting, arguing that it opens up the door to fraud. And while Trump has encouraged supporters to vote however they can in the coming cycle, he has said he would restrict mail-in voting if he wins the White House.
&#8220;Any time you have a mail-in ballot, there&#8217;s going to be massive fraud. What we have to do is, get control, and then we have to change it,&#8221; he said during an interview in August. &#8220;And it&#8217;s a very simple change, same day voting.&#8221;
Editor&#8217;s note: If you had an issue with mail-in ballots, we’d love to hear from you in our tip line. You can <a href="https://tips.dailywire.com/hc/en-us/requests/new">submit a tip here</a>.

Arizona Printer Prepares Mail-In Ballots Ahead Of November Elections

Swing State Voters Say They Receive Mail Ballots For Relatives Who Died, Moved Away

Arizona

Illinois

Wisconsin

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/republican-national-committee-rnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican National Committee</a> said Wednesday that a county in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pennsylvania</a> sent out 2024 election ballots without conducting accuracy testing required by state laws.
RNC Pennsylvania’s Election Integrity Counsel Linda Kerns <a href="https://prod-static.gop.com/media/documents/let_09-18-2024_to_Mont_County_L_and_A_testing_1726715258.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that officials in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania’s third most populous county, had sent out mail-in and absentee ballots without logic and accuracy tests. Kerns said that the county must remedy the situation by hand counting the ballots when returned.
“The Republican National Committee seeks a free and fair election for all voters in this Commonwealth. Montgomery County’s defiance of mandatory testing undermines confidence and trust in the integrity of the election,” Kerns wrote in a letter to Montgomery County Board of Elections Chair Neil Makhija. “Our proposed remedy — to segregate and count by hand the affected ballots — protects the rights of voters who, through no fault of their own, received ballots that the county distributed in violation of law.”
Kerns pointed to <a href="https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/dos/resources/voting-and-elections/directives-and-guidance/2024-Directive-on-Logic-Accuracy-Testing-3.0.pdf">directives</a> from the Pennsylvania secretary of state that say election officials “must conduct pre-election logic and accuracy testing.”
According to the directive, the purpose of these tests is to “ensure that ballots, scanners, ballot-marking devices, and all components of a county’s certified voting system are properly configured and in good working order prior to being used in an election.”
The RNC said that Montgomery County should immediately stop sending out all ballots until the completion of mandatory testing.
Montgomery County told The Daily Wire that the RNC&#8217;s letter was not accurate.
<div>&#8220;The statements from the RNC are not true. We have conducted ballot acceptance testing and are fully complying with the election code and Department of State directives. The RNC letter is misrepresenting the election code and DOS guidance,&#8221; the county told The Daily Wire.</div>
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Kerns added that the RNC had already lodged a complaint with the Montgomery County Election Tip Line.
“Pennsylvania voters deserve to know why these ballots were distributed without testing and be assured Montgomery County is counting them properly,” said RNC Chair Michael Whatley said. “This is an unacceptable breach of election integrity, and all legal options are on the table.”
On Tuesday, Makhija <a href="https://x.com/NeilMakhija/status/1836082080444551429" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X that he had “cast the first 2024 General Election ballot in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” He added that 115,000 ballots would be shipped out this week.
The Daily Wire reached out to Makhija for comment on the RNC’s letter.
Pennsylvania is expected to be one of the battlegrounds that determine whether former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris wins then election.

A woman takes a mail-in ballot from an envelope at a polling

RNC Says Pennsylvania County Ignored State Law Before Sending Out Mail-In Ballots

A conservative elections watchdog organization released a report on election laws in 2024 battleground states, warning that the Left has a “massive operation” in place ready to engage in litigation “lawfare.”
The Honest Elections Project released its <a href="https://honestelections.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HEP-2024-Battleground-Voting-Laws-Spreadsheet.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guide to voting laws</a> in battleground states on Wednesday, surveying the varying state laws on mail-in voting, early voting, drop boxes, ballot receipt deadlines, voter registration deadlines, voter ID laws, and other measures. The states included in the report included Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
&#8220;As we head toward a presidential election that appears it will be decided by a razor thin margin yet again, election integrity policies could have major implications on the outcome. While some states’ election safeguards are better than others, it is important for the public to be aware of the status of these laws as we get closer to election day,” Honest Elections Project Executive Director Jason Snead said. 
States like Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania are all expected to be close and determine the winner between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a press call on Wednesday, Snead said that some of the states surveyed, like Georgia and Ohio, had “substantially better” election laws in place while he raised concerns about election administration in Michigan and Nevada. 
He said that election security of Georgia and Ohio stood out, praising their tight restrictions on ballot drop boxes. 
”A lot of the credit for improving the upcoming election goes to state lawmakers who have passed elections laws in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona before the change in power in 2022, and others,” he said during the call. “They passed laws often in the face of incredibly stiff opposition when the Left was hurling invectives.”
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In contrast, he criticized Michigan over its passage of Proposition 2 last election cycle, which overhauled the state’s election laws. One portion allowed a person to sign an affidavit instead of presenting an ID when voting. 
Snead also warned that the Left had a massive private &#8220;get out the vote&#8221; infrastructure in place that was more lacking by the Right. 
“They have a massive, massive operation. It’s sort of a perpetual machine at this point,” he told The Daily Wire. “The Left has outsourced most of those activities whether you&#8217;re talking about litigation lawfare, voter registration, GOTV, to nonprofit groups that operate 24/7 365 and they have access to enormous sums of money to do what they are doing.” 
Additionally, Snead urged Congress to pass the SAVE Act, which would add protections to ensure that only American citizens will be able to vote in elections.

North Carolina Board Of Elections Test Voting Machines Ahead Of Election

Watchdog Warns Of ‘Massive’ Leftwing Infrastructure Prepared For Election ‘Lawfare’

Georgia

Michigan

Montana

Nevada

North Carolina

Ohio

A conservative legal group warned Monday of a “loophole” that allows thousands of voters in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wisconsin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisconsin</a> to cast a ballot without showing identification. 
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) released a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Indefinitely-Confined-FINAL-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research report</a> that said there are 144,347 people in the Badger State classified as “indefinitely confined,” meaning that they could cast an absentee ballot without showing ID. Indefinitely confined rates skyrocketed during the 2020 election and allowed tens of thousands to cast absentee ballots. 
“Wisconsin has a strong voter ID requirement in place, but there is one loophole that is ripe for exploitation. In Wisconsin, voters can claim they are ‘Indefinitely Confined,’ a status that allows a voter to continually receive an absentee ballot without ever showing an ID,” the report from WILL researcher Will Flanders said. 
Flanders said that while the number of voters classified as “indefinitely confined” had come down from 2020, it was still 116% higher than it was back in 2016 as of July 2024. He added that there were still thousands of voters who should be removed from the list under state law. 
“Per state law, clerks are to remove voters if they vote in-person or do not vote in any election. Those voters must sign and return a form to retain that status,” the report noted. 
According to Flanders, voters who should have received a notice of potential removal from the &#8220;indefinitely confined&#8221; list include 24,800 who didn’t vote in the April election, 2,788 who haven’t voted at all since 2020, and 2,595 who voted in person in April.
The areas with the highest number of indefinitely confined voters are the Democratic strongholds of Milwaukee and Madison followed by more divided areas like Green Bay and Kenosha. 
Indefinitely confined voter status was designed to help voters who are elderly or disabled and unable to make it to the polls. Voters just have to select that they fit the requirements for being indefinitely confined.
<div id="attachment_792585" style="width: 1300px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-792585" class="size-full wp-image-792585" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-09-at-7.21.59-AM.png" alt="" width="1290" height="580" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-09-at-7.21.59-AM.png 1290w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-09-at-7.21.59-AM-300x135.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-09-at-7.21.59-AM-1024x460.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-09-at-7.21.59-AM-768x345.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1290px) 100vw, 1290px" />Credit: WILL.</div>
“Under this statute, voters decide for themselves whether they meet the requirements and can receive an absentee ballot in perpetuity if they continue to vote in every election,” the report said. “Most critically, voters can receive ballots in this way without providing a photo ID. In Wisconsin, you only need to show a photo ID when you vote—not when you register.”
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During the 2020 election, election officials in Madison and Milwaukee said that effectively all voters could claim indefinitely confined status because of COVID. The Wisconsin Supreme Court <a href="https://www.wisbar.org/NewsPublications/InsideTrack/Pages/Article.aspx?Volume=0&amp;ArticleID=28110#:~:text=In%20Republican%20Party%20of%20Wisconsin%20v.%20Dane%20County%2C,can%20declare%20persons%20indefinitely%20confined%20for%20any%20reason." target="_blank" rel="noopener">later ruled</a> against this guidance, after the election. 
WILL has argued that there should be tighter guidelines for receiving indefinitely confined status and sent out letters to 15 communities across the state to see if they were complying with state law about cleaning up their rolls. 
“Confidence in our elections continues to be dangerously low in Wisconsin and across the country,” Flanders told The Daily Wire. “Voter ID is a popular and well-executed way to keep our elections secure and free of fraud. While the Governor refused to fix this loophole in the years since 2020, efforts must be made by local election clerks to resolve it as much as possible.”
Wisconsin is expected to be one of the key battleground states that may determine the outcome of the 2024 election with polls showing a close race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Americans Head To The Polls To Vote In The 2022 Midterm Elections

Voter ID ‘Loophole’ Ripe ‘For Exploitation’ In Election Battleground, Legal Group Warns

Voter ID 'Loophole' Ripe 'For Exploitation' In Election Battleground, Legal Group Warns

2020 Election

Milwaukee

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. scored major back-to-back courtroom wins on Friday when judges ruled that his name would be removed from the ballot in the battleground states of North Carolina and Michigan.
Since he dropped out of the race last month and endorsed former President Donald Trump, Kennedy has been fighting Democratic officials in several states to have his name removed from ballots ahead of the November presidential election — with the consensus being that his name on the ballot would hurt Trump more than it would hurt Vice President Kamala Harris. Kennedy opted to remain on the ballots in solid blue or red states, giving his supporters room to cast a protest vote against both major party candidates.
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In North Carolina, the Democrat-controlled State Board of Elections denied Kennedy&#8217;s request to remove his name along party lines. Kennedy filed suit, and a judge on Thursday ordered that his name should remain on the ballots — but gave him until noon on Friday to appeal that decision.
Appeal Kennedy did, and on Friday morning the North Carolina Court of Appeals <a href="https://appellate.nccourts.org/dockets.php?court=2&amp;docket=2-P2024-0624-001&amp;pdf=1&amp;a=0&amp;dev=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reversed the prior decision</a>:
<blockquote>By unanimous vote, the motion for temporary stay and petition for writ of supersedeas filed in this cause by petitioner Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on 5 September 2024 are allowed as follows: The Petition for Writ of Supersedeas is allowed and the &#8220;Order on Plaintiff&#8217;s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, and, in the Alternative, an Expedited Preliminary Injunction&#8221; entered on 5 September 2024 by Judge Rebecca Holt is hereby stayed. Respondents are hereby enjoined from disseminating ballots listing petitioner as a candidate for President of the United States. The stay and injunction will remain in effect until the disposition of petitioner&#8217;s appeal or until further order of this Court. This cause is remanded to the Superior Court of Wake County for entry of order directing the State Board of Elections to disseminate ballots without the name of petitioner Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. appearing as a candidate for President of the United States.</blockquote>
North Carolina Board of Elections General Counsel Paul Cox has since ordered county elections boards throughout the state to hold the mail-in ballots that were supposed to be sent out until the state board determines whether or not to appeal the decision.
&#8220;Our attorneys are reviewing the order and determining how to move forward. No decision has been made on whether this ruling will be appealed,&#8221; Cox said.
A similar scene played out in Michigan, where Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson — despite arguing that independent presidential candidate Cornel West should be removed from the ballot — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michigan-dem-sos-says-rfk-jr-s-name-must-remain-on-ballot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refused to remove</a> Kennedy&#8217;s name after he requested that she do so.
Kennedy again filed suit, and on Friday morning, a panel of three judges <a href="https://aboutblaw.com/bfxt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled in his favor</a>. The conclusion of their three-page decision was as follows:
<blockquote>Plaintiff sought to have his name withdrawn from the ballot in advance of the upcoming general election. While the request was made close to the deadline for defendant to give notice of candidates to local election officials, it was not made so late that laches should apply. Additionally, we conclude that the absence of any statutory authority prohibiting his withdrawal gave plaintiff a clear legal right to have his name removed from the ballot. [Secretary of State Benson] had no ability to disregard that request. And, at this point, no other remedy aside from mandamus is available to plaintiff, given the impending deadline for defendant to send notice to local election officials. &#8230; Accordingly, we hold that plaintiff is entitled to mandamus relief and that defendant shall remove plaintiff’s name from the ballot, as requested.</blockquote>
Kennedy is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rfk-jr-to-appear-on-virginia-ballot-leftist-cornel-west-disqualified" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still on the ballot</a> in Virginia and in Wisconsin.

Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Holds Rally In Glendale, Arizona

RFK Jr. Scores Major Wins For Trump In 2 Battleground States

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wisconsin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisconsin</a> Supreme Court ruled on Friday that ballot drop boxes can be used for the 2024 presidential election, overturning a previous decision from the court saying the boxes were illegal after widespread use during the 2020 election. 
In a 4-3 <a href="https://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&amp;seqNo=822752" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decision</a>, the liberals on the court said that Wisconsin law allowed for the use of ballot drop boxes for absentee voting and that city election clerks were free to use them to administer elections. The ruling was celebrated by Democrats but decried by Republicans. 
&#8220;Our decision today does not force or require that any municipal clerks use drop boxes. It merely acknowledges what [state law] has always meant: that clerks may lawfully utilize secure drop boxes in an exercise of their statutorily-conferred discretion,&#8221; Justice Ann Walsh Bradley wrote.
Friday’s decision overrules a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wisconsin-supreme-court-bans-uses-of-drop-boxes-in-elections" target="_blank" rel="noopener">July 2022 4-3 decision</a> by a conservative majority banning the use of unmanned ballot drop boxes. Democrats again challenged the prohibition on ballot drop boxes after liberal Judge Janet Protasiewicz <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/liberal-wisconsin-judge-wins-supreme-court-race-flips-balance-of-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defeated a conservative candidate</a> in a Supreme Court election last year. 
The court&#8217;s conservatives strongly disagreed with the majority’s decision, arguing it was politically motivated and would be used to further weaken election integrity. 
“The majority again forsakes the rule of law in an attempt to advance its political agenda,” wrote Justice Rebecca Bradley. &#8220;The majority ends the term by loosening the legislature&#8217;s regulations governing the privilege of absentee voting in the hopes of tipping the scales in future elections.&#8221;
She added that the majority decision would “legitimize any method of getting absentee ballots to a municipal clerk that the clerk may choose.”
“An unattended cardboard box on the clerk&#8217;s driveway? An unsecured sack sitting outside the local library or on a college campus? Door-to-door retrieval from voters&#8217; homes or dorm rooms? Under the majority&#8217;s logic, because the statute doesn&#8217;t expressly forbid such methods of ballot delivery, they are perfectly lawful,” she wrote. 
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Democrat Governor Tony Evers celebrated the ruling, calling it a “victory for democracy&#8221; and said he would &#8220;keep fighting to ensure that every eligible voter can cast their ballot safely, securely, and as easily as possible to make sure their voices are heard.&#8221;
Wisconsin GOP Chair Brian Schimming expressed disappointment with the ruling.
“In a setback for both the separation of powers and public trust in our elections, the left-wing justices on the Supreme Court of Wisconsin have obeyed the demands of their out-of-state donors at the expense of Wisconsin,” he said. “This latest attempt by leftist justices to placate their far-left backers will not go unanswered by voters.”
Wisconsin is expected to be one of the key states that determine the 2024 presidential election.

Early Voting Begins In Swing State Of Wisconsin

Swing State Supreme Court Rules That Ballot Drop Boxes Can Be Used In 2024 Election

Tony Evers

For all his promise, Barack Obama was a man of few accomplishments before being elected to the highest office in America. But he actually did achieve something when it came to national politics. He brought the Chicago Democratic Machine model into the national arena.
I grew up just north of Cook County, Illinois, in which Chicago is located. For 21 years, from 1955 to 1976, Mayor Richard J. Daley ran his town as a true big city party machine Democrat, complete with patronage and all the other creepy-crawly intrigues to be found when turning over the rocks of municipal politics.
While Daley was a Democrat, he was no ideologue. He was a product of the old school Democrat Party that gave us FDR, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Tip O’Neill, Scoop Jackson, Zell Miller, and even Bill Clinton. Indeed, it was Daley’s Chicago Police who violently cleared out Grant Park anti-war protesters during the height of the 1968 Democrat Convention, for which he was vilified by Sen. Abraham Ribicoff (D-CT) as using “Gestapo tactics.” 
Daley was not a woke, pandering, identity-obsessed modern Democrat. Rather he was a mover, a conductor, a political boss. And the city ran. Under Daley the streets were clean, life was affordable, business boomed, the stunning skyline grew, and crime rarely spilled out onto the Magnificent Mile as it so often does now.
The Chicago Democrat Party is rife with corruption, as extended one-party rule inevitably leads to abuse of power — Chicago has not had a Republican mayor since 1931. The running joke in Chicago is “Vote Democrat, Vote Often.”
<div id="attachment_739271" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-739271" class="size-large wp-image-739271" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1211041403-864x576.jpg" alt="CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 07: Inmates at the Cook County Jail check in with election judges before voting in the Illinois primary election after a polling place in the facility was opened for early voting on March 07, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. About 500 to 700 inmates were expected to vote today inside the facility which houses more than 5,000 detainees. The jail is the first in the nation to open a polling place inside to allow inmates to vote. The Illinois primary election will be held on March 17. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1211041403-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1211041403-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1211041403-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1211041403.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Scott Olson/Getty Images</div>
In fact, Daley&#8217;s son Richard M. Daley, served as mayor for 22 years, beating his father&#8217;s previous record by one year. The pathologies that exist in Chicago today, however, are not the result of Daley-esque pragmatist Democrats, but rather ideological zealots. As such, in one generation, the leadership of this once-great city has devolved from the old school Daleys to the hard-Left progressive leadership of Lori Lightfoot and now Brandon Johnson. Anyone with an objective eye can see that the farther Left Chicago has lurched, the more unlivable, expensive, and dangerous it has become. Even my beloved Chicago Bears have had enough and are moving from iconic Soldier Field downtown to Arlington Heights in the suburbs. 
So when then-presidential candidate Barack Obama <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/news/how-barack-obama-fundamentally-transformed-the-united-states">told a crowd</a> in Columbia, Missouri, in October of 2008, &#8220;We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America,&#8221; he meant it. But not in the way envisioned by the starry-eyed Obamanauts who projected upon their narcissistic empty suit of a messiah their own progressive aspirations. Obama doesn’t think that way. Anyone who rises to the top of Cook County politics by definition is about ruthlessly accumulating and maintaining political power as the ultimate goal, not making the world (other than his own) a better place. And as a way to amass national power for himself and the Democrats he still surreptitiously leads, Obama saw what works in Chicago and vowed to install the Cook County model for the Democrat Party machine on a national level.
The Democrat Party Obama created was one that sought to transform the entire country into Chicago. This transformation came to fruition in the 2020 election. I am not saying that the Democrats “stole” that election, but they did cynically exploit the faux concerns over COVID to force upon the nation mass mail-in ballots. In the 2016 election, roughly a quarter of all ballots were cast by mail. The percentage <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/11/20/the-voting-experience-in-2020/">jumped to 46%</a> in the 2020 election. This is no coincidence. Nor is it a coincidence that in 2020, even though some <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/11/20/the-voting-experience-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">67%</a> of Trump voters voted in person either on or before election day, only 41% of Biden voters did the same. To my knowledge, GOP voters weren’t dying of COVID in droves afterwards. 
 
The DNC, which pushed mail-in balloting, knew what this unprecedented (some argue illegal in certain states) revamping of election procedure really meant for them: opportunity. As the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform <a href="https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/carter-baker-commission-16-years-later" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in 2005, “Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud.” 
So why would a party that howls clarion calls about Trump’s “threat to our sacred democracy” push for this clearly flawed and easily corruptible election process? Because, historically, fraud has worked in their favor. It has in Cook County for decades and has shown to be a valuable tool at the national level as well.
<div id="attachment_739417" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-739417" class="size-large wp-image-739417" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-865x576.jpg" alt="Aerial Dramatic View of Downtown Chicago at Sunset - Lake Shore Drive. Aerial_Views. Getty Images." width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Aerial_Views. Getty Images.</div>
A common media mantra is that 2020 saw no “widespread” election fraud. And, technically, they are probably correct. But that didn’t matter, and Obama and his Chicago cronies — including his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who tellingly ended up mayor of Chicago himself for a spell, and who was eventually succeeded in his White House post by the late Mayor Daley’s son — understood this. When you have three key swing states in which Trump only won by a combined 80,000 votes in 2016, then “widespread” voter fraud is not needed. What is required is targeted fraud. 
There is no doubt that very powerful institutions from Big Government to Big Tech to Big Justice colluded to push their censoring and prosecutorial thumb on the elections scales. It&#8217;s still happening today, as evidenced by Trump’s many court appearances that caused even Left-leaning CNN host Fareed Zakaria to admit they are only taking place because of the accused’s name. As to actual ballot stuffing, harvesting, or illegal voting we will not know for a long time how much it did or did not occur. Nevertheless, millions of Americans sensed something was amiss in 2020, something we Chicagoans shrug off as business as usual. 
Remember, it took decades to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lbj-stolen-election-box-13-mangan-c818e478ec509c65585d3094bda69f96" target="_blank" rel="noopener">show conclusively</a> that Texas Democrats did, in fact, knowingly falsify votes in LBJ’s successful 1948 run for Senate — with catastrophic consequences for the country later. 
 
Defenders of the overall integrity of mail-in ballots will point to various courts’ refusals to hear over 50 Trump-initiated claims of election fraud as evidence there is nothing to see here. But they will neglect to add that most of these dismissals were on procedural grounds such as standing or laches, and often just touched upon the potential merits which were never allowed to be fully argued before the bench. It’s worth noting that the Supreme Court, in fact, sided with the now-proven fraudsters for LBJ on procedural grounds as well. The courts are not oracles.
A <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-during-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> by New York University’s nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice found that 40 states and the District of Columbia passed laws and changed procedures to expand voting access during the COVID pandemic as well as “substantive changes to their voting systems since the start of the pandemic.” Some eased rules on voting by mail or extended early voting to reduce crowds — to protect them from a virus that apparently only attacks poll lines and biker clubs, while leaving BLM and antifa protestors, or Democratic California governors at swanky Napa restaurants, alone. What makes this concerning is that these loosening standards affected 258 potential electoral votes. And, not surprisingly, 96 more eventually went for Biden than Trump; 47 of these had gone for Trump in 2016. 
This is why Obama’s main project seems to have been, at its core, elevating through mail-in ballots the corrupt Cook County machine to a national level. It&#8217;s all about power. It is not the means to an end, but rather the end itself. And COVID gave them their cover for all the election rule easing and censorship of “disinformation.” As Rahm Emanuel himself stated: “Never let a crisis go to waste.”
Still, this cynical attempt to nationalize what once worked locally in my hometown is fraught with hazard. One-party Chicagoland is a solidly cobalt blue enclave. They think the same way, vote the same way, believe the same way even if it leads to their city’s destruction. As such, they will tolerate corruption with a wink and a nod so long as their party stays in control of City Hall.
The country as a whole, however, is not Cook County. It is evenly divided among blue and red, as the last two elections have shown. There are some 75 million-plus voting Americans who will not just stand idly by with a shrug of the shoulder when the “Chicago Way” is applied nationally again. January 6, as ugly, ludicrous, unnecessary, and misguided as it was, nevertheless offered a chilling portent of what could happen should millions of voters once again feel that the electoral process has been compromised.
Democracy is built entirely on trust in the legitimacy of a voting system. And that trust must be especially strong among the losers. But what if trust is gone? What reason is there to believe in our democracy? What reason is there to obey any laws at all when they are only selectively applied based not on merit but party affiliation? If Americans no longer believe their votes are honestly counted, there is no more democratic foundation to hold up the Republic. Remember, we have elections to settle our differences without killing each other.
What Obama and his Chicago crew are attempting is a fundamental “transformation” of America as promised. And it will fail because, as with so many of the Left’s other misguided attempts to nationalize policies from healthcare to schooling, it is not scalable. Just as what works in tiny countries cannot be imposed on the enormous USA, neither can the political model of one corrupt, collapsing city be applied nationally without severe push-back from millions who will find no humor in the quip that “The dead of Cook County always vote Democrat.” 
One man’s joke is another’s sense of disenfranchisement and disempowerment. And that never ends well.
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Brad Schaeffer is a commodities trader, author, columnist, and musician whose eclectic body of writing can be found in the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, New York Daily News, Daily Wire, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, Zerohedge, and others. His latest book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Pits-Rough-Tumble-Exchange/dp/B0CKPNCMQW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FBF37276B680&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vcOViovcNlulLDwCgSAL69F_A30PW0Mtp0XkDLFpRDI.e73HGuCpMYaPK8os1N9Y87Bb_hElkxrUd2FszkudrUk&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=life+in+the+pits+Schaeffer+book&amp;qid=1705421538&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=life+in+the+pits+schaeffer+book%2Cstripbooks%2C100&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LIFE IN THE PITS: My Time As A Trader On The Rough-And-Tumble Exchange Floors</a> is available on Amazon and soon Audible. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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