It’s About Election integrity, Not Overturning A Result
Washington Examiner
Senator Mike Braun
December 2, 2020
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/sen-mike-braun-its-about-election-integrity-not-overturning-a-result
The media have fundamentally failed the American people by refusing to investigate any question about the integrity of widespread mail-in voting in the 2020 election and by dismissing all concern over documented election irregularities as conspiracy theories.
Asking questions about how unprecedented millions of mail-in ballots were verified and processed is not sour grapes over an election loss. I agree with President Trump that whomever is affirmed by the Electoral College should take office on January 20. But the broader issue of election integrity is at stake here.
Every American needs to feel confident his or her vote is being legally counted, and that election boards are only counting legally cast votes. We can only achieve this by vigorously investigating every hint of impropriety, which the media has declined to do.
The Trump campaign has raised questions about how ballots were verified and, I believe, has found sufficient irregularities to merit further investigation.
For example, though the partial Wisconsin recount changed a minimal amount of votes from one candidate to another, the recount revealed absentee ballots that were counted without an absentee ballot request on file — a violation of Wisconsin law. Municipal clerks were found to have been illegally fixing errors on absentee ballot envelopes.
In Philadelphia, the Trump campaign had to go to court in order to allow poll watchers to be within six feet of the ballot counting rather than 20 feet away.
In Nevada, a whistleblower filed an affidavit stating that he personally witnessed workers disregarding signature verification and being told by superiors to push ballots through without verification. For the first time ever this year, Nevada mailed ballots to every registered voter, leading to untold numbers of ballots being sent to outdated addresses and deceased voters. This comes in addition to Nevada’s use of a machine to verify signatures on ballots, raising questions about whether any of those signatures were properly vetted. The media was more than willing to accept any whistleblower report that alleged malfeasance by Trump, but not those blowing the whistle on irregular signature verification.
I am not an election expert, but I agree with the many folks back in Indiana and across the country who don’t understand why we wouldn’t further investigate these irregularities.
To me, the important question is not whether enough votes will change hands to alter the result in any given state. The priority should be whether the large percentage of American voters, some of whom elected me as their voice in the Senate, can be confident that our electoral process is free and fair. Failure even to look into claims of voter fraud would be a dereliction of duty.
In 2016, Democrats and the media were emphatic that foreign interference was a grave threat to our elections. As president, Trump took action to prevent foreign election interference through aggressive executive actions mandating interagency reporting of potential interference, authorizing strong sanctions against nations found to be seeking to disturb our elections, and providing on-site cybersecurity support to states to prevent foreign actors from influencing our elections.
Trump and Republicans took the prospect of election impropriety in 2016 seriously and took steps to safeguard against it. The result was a 2018 and 2020 election that by all expert accounts was free of foreign interference. Now it is time for the media and Democrats to lend the same respect to Republicans’ concerns about misconduct with mail-in ballots to ensure everyone can be confident in election results going forward.
Even if the media will not admit that any of the allegations in sworn affidavits regarding election irregularities occurred, they should at least admit that it benefits all of us to thoroughly investigate every claim of voter fraud or election interference.
If we do not turn over every stone in this election, there is little chance for the country to come together on anything.
FOOTNOTE: THE CITY-COUNTY OBSERVER POSTED THIS ARTICLE WITHOUT BIAS OR EDITING.
Sounds reasonable BUT…..Odd that no judge, even the Trump appointed ones, found any voter fraud charges presented by Rudy Guliani et al. How Come hda
A Democrat friend sent the message below to me just after the election. She later corrected her mistake to “absentee application†in her message.
Hi, Gail, …I thought we were “all” supposed to be afraid of the Democrats trying to stuff the ballot boxes with absentee ballots. So why did I get sent an absentee ballot from “Amy” in the GOP?
I have the message from Amy and can send through messenger, if interested.
As a former member of Ways and Means with the then Rep Braun, I respected his opinions, always based on facts (even though I knew they benefited his party’s ideology); but I am disappointed in this article. We need our Electeds to press on with business, especially considering the negative environment of distrust and media hype that encourages it and the condition of our country caused by the coronavirus.
Braun was an early Always Trumper. His letter is indicative of the GOP’s current ‘investigate the controversy’ (after inventing one) mindset. Others can make excuses for him and add their qualifiers to their dismissal of his attempts to further Trump’s coup attempt. I just can’t do that.
This is what I posted earlier this week on his web page. It was obviously prior to this crazy press release.-
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As someone who has lived within miles of you for most of my life, I am writing this in anger after hearing one of Trump’s attorneys suggest that the man federally in charge of this year’s election should be shot.
Your silence is deafening. Judge after judge, Secretaries of State, one after another have forcefully said that the election was legitimate but you remain SILENT.
Why?
Do you lack the courage to even protest the proclamations of this President who is acting like he’s nearly insane? We are at a precipice for the future of this Country which I have always revered and you choose to remain silent.
Why did you even run for your office if you did not care enough for the Country to stand up against a mad man who is seeking to destroy America as we have always known it?
As your constituent, I fully expect you to do the right thing but you remain silent. How do you face voters, friends and family, being in a position of power but refusing to call out the assault that is currently occurring on our democracy. Your continuing acquiescence to a man who is a threat to our norms and values makes me wonder if you should be our Senator. Please change your partisan attitude and stand up for Hoosiers instead of a man who should probably be in prison instead of the Whitehouse.
The amount of evidence showing election fraud is overwhelming. If you watch Newsmax you will observe eyewitness accounts of fraud at numerous locations. Video of suitcases containing fraudulent ballots and much more. The voting spikes and truck loads of fake ballots being delivered after the close are concerning. Thirty percent of Democrats believe the election was rigged. The country is close to civil war. I voted in Indiana and had to produce a valid ID which was scanned. Why do the swing states accept fake ballots and manipulation of votes in the electronic voting machines.
Sounds like you lost and are willing to disgrace your country in the eyes of the world because of your mental weakness.
I just so happen to know another pathetic individual who is willing to throw His country under the bus because of His loyalty to Himself instead of His country also dude.
And at the present time, He happens to be a Hell of a lot more powerful than you are.
But not for long.
Thank God!….
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