In what observers call an “incredibly dangerous” move, former President Donald Trump is pushing to replace indecisive state election officials with those who backed his rigged election lie.
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Trump has previously backed Republicans who backed his endlessly repeated lies about the 2020 presidential election for top electoral positions in three key states: Arizona, Michigan and Georgia, CNN noted.
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The current electoral leaders in each of the states have resisted their pressure to revoke the votes. Georgian Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is running again, videotaped Trump ordering him in a post-election phone call to “find” enough votes to turn defeat into victory.
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In his latest endorsement Monday, Trump pushed Republican Rep. Mark Finchem to the post of Arizona Secretary of State. Finchem has sold off QAnon’s conspiracy theories and insists unsubstantiated that this 2020 election was stolen from Trump through “rampant” fraud.
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“It is incredibly dangerous to support electoral candidates who do not accept the legitimacy of the 2020 elections. This suggests that they might be willing to bend or break the rules when it comes to holding an election and counting the votes in the future.” Rick Hassan , a professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine, told CNN. “Someone who falsely claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump lacks credibility and cannot be trusted to run a fair election.”
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Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, president of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, told CNN there was “extreme concern” about candidates promoting the rigged electoral lie.
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if “undemocratic” candidates are chosen, “one could imagine a secretary of state refusing to certify the election results,” he warned.
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Twenty-six states have elections for their secretary of state in 2022.
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See CNN’s full analysis here.
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