RNC co-chair Lara Trump promises to prosecute election cheaters!
DETROIT, Michigan (PNN) - June 16, 2024 - On Friday, Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of President Donald J. Trump and co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), pledged to prosecute anyone who cheats in an election, in hopes of warding off potential fraud in this year’s presidential race.
“This is the year we do it,” she said during the Turning Point Action People’s Convention in Detroit, Michigan, per Fox News. “We are also sending a loud and clear message out there to anyone who thinks about cheating in an election - we will find you; we will track you down, and we will prosecute you to the full extent of the law.”
The pledge came the same day that the RNC launched an initiative to improve election security by working with thousands of polling place monitors, poll workers, and attorneys to serve as “election integrity” watchdogs in November.
“Election integrity is the foundation of our (Republic),” said Chairman Michael Whatley, per a press release announcing the initiative. “Through this unprecedented program, we are mobilizing lawyers and volunteers who are committed to preserving the sanctity of our elections.”
Lara Trump said the goal is to post more than 100,000 poll watchers and 500 lawyers at various election sites across the country, where they will be able to observe and ensure that the process is not tampered with by unscrupulous people.
“Whenever a ballot is being cast or counted, Republican poll watchers will be observing the process and reporting any irregularity,” the RNC said in the press release. “In the event of an irregularity or problem, RNC lawyers and the volunteer attorneys that they have coordinated will provide rapid response services to resolve the issue using a sophisticated, tested action protocol.”
The RNC has been unable to commit to such an initiative for several decades, due to a federal court consent decree that was established in 1982, to stop alleged voter intimidation efforts from Republicans. However, in 2018, that decree was lifted.
“Democrats accused the Republican National Committee of engaging in a number of activities which they said was voter suppression in violation of the Voting Rights Act and other civil rights laws,” Rick Hasan, a legal scholar and law professor, told NPR after the decree was lifted. “One thing the RNC was accused of was sending armed police officers off duty to polling places to patrol the polling places in minority areas. Rather than going to trial, the RNC agreed to settle the case, and it settled the case in what’s called a consent decree, which means that the settlement between the parties was embodied in a court order.”
“If the RNC ever violated that order, they could be found in contempt; and so this was a very powerful tool that the Democrats have been able to use for the last few decades,” Hasan added.
“We have a unique opportunity right now that we have not had in 40 years as a Party. For 40 years, there was a consent decree placed on the RNC that did not allow us to train people to work as poll workers,” Lara Trump said at the Turning Point convention. “Who was training all the people for the last 40 years? Not the RNC. Think about how many people the DNC got to train.”
“So now we have this amazing opportunity so we can train you to work in a polling location. We can train you to work in a tabulation center when the mail-in ballots come in. We also want attorneys to work in every major polling location, so we are not reactive, we are proactive,” she said.
“Partnered alongside the efforts of grassroots supporters and legal experts, the program is establishing a robust network of monitoring and protection against any violation or fraud,” the RNC’s press release says. “This groundbreaking initiative underscores the unwavering commitment of the RNC and the Trump Campaign to protect the election.”
“To empower poll watchers, poll workers and attorneys, comprehensive training sessions will be conducted every month on the monitoring of not only voting sites but also ballot tabulation centers. These trainings will equip volunteers with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively oversee potential problems in the electoral process, guaranteeing that every vote is counted accurately and fairly,” it added.
“What we need to ensure is integrity in our electoral process,” Lara Trump said during the initiative’s kickoff event in Bloomfield Hills, in Oakland County, Michigan, an affluent Detroit suburb that is crucial for winning the state. “We can never go back and repeat 2020, but we can learn lessons from 2020.” She said most of the RNC is currently focused on the committee’s election integrity program.