Priority One: Election Integrity – RNC and Trump Campaign Go on Offense to Protect the Vote

Wednesday afternoon, I participated in an “election integrity call” hosted by the RNC and the Trump campaign. Karoline Leavitt, National Press Secretary for the Trump campaign, spoke first. She explained that they were hosting the call to discuss massive victories in both Pennsylvania and Virginia today.

They also wanted to describe the ongoing fight by the RNC and the campaign to ensure free and fair elections. Leavitt referenced the Trump supporter who was arrested in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on Monday and the voters turned away in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. She also noted that they had just won the Bucks County suit 30 minutes prior to the call. She explained that over 130 election integrity lawsuits have been filed during this cycle with the goal of making it easier to vote and harder to cheat. She also made note of the early voting numbers for Republicans in key states across the country and affirmed that their focus remains on securing the vote for all Americans.

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Also participating in the call were RNC Chair Michael Whatley, Co-Chair Lara Trump, and outside legal counsel Bill McGinley. Whatley noted that since he and Trump were elected to the RNC in March, the two highest priorities for the RNC have been to get out the vote and protect the ballot. Election integrity is a key priority, and they have been working every day to ensure a fair, accurate, secure, and transparent election. They have an extensive election integrity team with over 230,000 volunteers and attorneys who have signed up and are currently going through legal training as poll watchers and poll observers. They have filed 135 lawsuits. They used the primary elections to test their operations. 

They have been focused on four primary drivers for litigation: 1) only American citizens can vote; 2) voter ID should be required everywhere; 3) states should clean up their voter rolls; 4) states with mail-in balloting should have basic protections in place. 

Whatley also spoke of the Wednesday Supreme Court ruling, allowing Gov. Glenn Youngkin to remove non-citizens from the rolls in Virginia. He expressed surprise that the Biden-Harris administration opted to mobilize the DOJ to pursue that case. He confirmed that the RNC supported Youngkin in the case. 

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He emphasized that American elections should be decided by Americans and they want to protect the vote for all Americans. 

They are focused on ensuring that Pennsylvania voters can cast ballots without interference. In the Bucks County case, they stepped into a situation where they found election officials were turning people away. They initially sent a letter to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, who issued a directive. Then they filed the lawsuit in Bucks County because voters were being turned away as early as 2:30 PM. They won that lawsuit. Bucks County has extended pre-election day voting through November 1. Whatley characterized this as a landmark victory. He emphasized they want a fair election not just for Republican voters but for all voters.

Lara Trump agreed that election integrity is the number one priority. She indicated their operation is functioning as planned and as intended. They want people to feel good about the process of voting. She added that it is foundational that we trust our electoral process regardless of party. Their efforts will continue through the election. 

She noted that they had invited the DNC to join in their pursuit of election integrity but thus far have not heard back. She also added that it is important to spread the word loud and clear that they are taking election integrity seriously and that you can trust American elections. 

There was a brief question and answer session.

Diana Glebova of the New York Post asked Whatley and Trump. How concerned the RNC is that election results will be fair, given what we have seen so far. According to Whatley, they feel that they have an infrastructure in place to work with local officials and monitor things as they move forward. They have seen significant improvements in the election system, and they remain cautiously optimistic. According to Trump, they are not waiting on anything. They have felt good so far. They are hopeful that they will have results on November 5. They are confident that they have put the proper team in place. Whatley added that of the 130+ legal actions filed, they have won the vast preponderance of them. He noted that courts seem to be agreeing that the basic protections they are trying to have put in place are reasonable and legal.

Olivia Rubin of ABC News asked about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case — how important they believed it was to the overall strategy and why they chose to appeal. She also asked how involved Donald Trump is personally with the legal strategy. 

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McGinley noted that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case is extremely important because ballots were being kicked to provisional status, and that was not proper. Pennsylvania should be following the law. He pointed out that the system is designed to detect issues early. They want Pennsylvania to follow the law regarding provisional ballots. With regard to the Bucks County situation, they sent a letter to the Secretary of the Commonwealth requesting that they do the right thing, and when the officials did not, they filed a lawsuit. The judge found in their favor. Leavitt added that, of course, the former president’s message is consistent with the RNC message and that they want to make it too big to rig. He tasked Whatley and Lara Trump with the responsibility because he believes in them.

A third reporter, whose name I did not catch, noted that Donald Trump referred to the Bucks County situation as “voter suppression.” He asked if this was disproportionately or solely affecting Republicans. According to Whatley, telling people that they need to leave while it is legal for them to vote is problematic. He added that he didn’t know and didn’t care if it was disproportionately affecting Republicans or Democrats. There were voters in line legally who were told to leave. He said it was good to see the court agreed with them and provided a remedy. 

McGinley stated that voters were relying on what Bucks County officials told them regarding the ability to vote, but the officials did not keep that commitment to voters. Other counties were keeping their offices open the whole time. When administrators make a commitment, they need to keep that commitment. He noted that the ruling found that Bucks County violated Pennsylvania election law. He added that these voters deserved the same treatment as high-ranking officials who bragged about being able to vote early — they should be entitled to the same process, and it should be a secure and transparent process. McGinley contended that when voters sacrificed during the work week to cast their ballot, officials should keep their commitment. He added that they will continue to keep an eye on the situation through election day. 

Lara Trump added that the RNC has been very proud to fight for every single American’s right to vote and they will continue to fight for that and for free, fair, transparent elections.

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