Pro-Trump 'fake voters' will now vote for real votersExBulletin

Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald, one of the 2024 presidential electors facing criminal charges related to the 2020 “fake voter” scheme, speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee in July. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images .

switch captionAndrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Some supporters of President-elect Donald Trump are preparing to vote in their states' Electoral College on Tuesday while still facing felony charges stemming from the last presidential race.

Eight of this year's Republican electors in Michigan and Nevada have been charged with participating in what is known as the “fake electors” scheme to overturn Trump's 2020 defeat.

Four years ago, they sent fake certificates to state and federal officials claiming that Trump had won their states' electoral votes. This year, they are expected to return as voters authorized to sign legitimate certificates formalizing Trump's recent victories in their states.

As states take another step in the transfer of presidential power, some legal and election experts see the return of these eight criminally charged electors as a reminder of the leeway state political parties have in choosing electors potential and the extent to which Trump has come to dominate the Republicans. gone across the country.

Where are the cases of “fake voters” in Michigan and Nevada?

While Trump's reelection derailed election subversion cases against the president-elect, state-level criminal prosecutions against his allies in the 2020 plot are moving forward without the possibility of a presidential pardon, which only covers federal crimes.

In Michigan, the cases against six re-elected voters, Amy Facchinello, Hank Choate, John Haggard, Marian Sheridan, Meshawn Maddock and Timothy King, all of whom have pleaded not guilty, are still pending in state court after the Michigan's Democratic attorney general announced charges in July 2023.

And in Nevada, state prosecutors this month filed new forgery charges against two returning pro-Trump voters, Jesse Law and Michael McDonald, who chairs the Nevada Republican Party. In June, a state judge dismissed an earlier indictment against Law, McDonald and others because, the judge said, state prosecutors chose the wrong venue for the charges.

That decision is currently on appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court, and in case it is not overturned, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, said his office filed the new charges in another venue before the expiration of the limitation period.

“Justice demands that we prosecute wrongdoing,” Ford says. “If our case goes to trial, we intend to hold them accountable for the actions they committed years ago. The fact that they did not break the law during this go-around does not has nothing to do with their responsibilities and their abilities to participate in the electoral process.

McDonald's attorney Richard Wright said in an email that “the refiling of the dismissed charges feels like a political decision by the Attorney General,” who announced the new charges and his intention to run for office of governor the same day. Ford claims the timing was a coincidence resulting from a reporter's investigation into his political future and the time it took the court to process the case.

State-level lawsuits against 2020 pro-Trump voters also continue in Arizona and Georgia. There are also Republican voters who are allowed to vote this year in Pennsylvania, where prosecutors did not file charges after these pro-Trump voters in 2020 signed certificates with caveats stipulating that the documents would only be used if a court overturned their state's decision. election results.

Why Criminally Charged “Fake Voters” Can Serve as Authorized Voters

Presidential electors are typically state or local political party leaders or other longtime supporters.

“Many states are pretty lax about qualifications, who can serve, and how they behave,” says Julia Azari, a political science professor at Marquette University.

In Wisconsin, where unauthorized Republican voters also signed a fake certificate in 2020, a settlement agreement now bars them from participating in any U.S. presidential election with Trump on the ballot.

But there are no similar legal hurdles for indicted voters in Michigan or Nevada.

“Even if they had been convicted, at least under Michigan law, that wouldn't disqualify them from being voters,” says Barbara McQuade, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and former U.S. attorney under the Obama administration. “I think probably the biggest concern is that people might have doubts about the integrity of voters who have been accused of abusing this power in the past.”

If there's any concern, that hasn't stopped the Republican Party in Michigan or Nevada from selecting those re-elected voters to sign their state's official Electoral College certificate this year, McQuade adds.

“Including someone who has already been charged with falsifying this document or falsely attesting to a document like that is, I think, an interesting statement about the charges,” McQuade said. “I think it means they think the accusations are insignificant, unimportant or can be some sort of badge of honor.”

The Republican parties in Michigan and Nevada did not respond to NPR's requests for comment. After the Nevada judge dismissed the previous indictment, the Nevada Republican Party said in a press release that it was “satisfied” and that the judge “made the right decision.”

This year's return of criminally charged voters, Azari adds, “illustrates how the Trump movement has been incredibly successful in dominating the national and local parties and also in dominating the narrative around the 2020 election.”

McQuade nevertheless refutes the argument that Trump's re-election in 2024 “somehow erases all the sins” and that “anyone who did anything to get him elected in 2020 received this kind of blessing from the voters.”

“All of these people are certainly entitled to the presumption of innocence, due process and a fair trial,” McQuade said. “But I think it's important for [the state attorneys general] “I need to get to the bottom of these lawsuits so people understand that this was a big deal and it wasn't something we shrug our shoulders about and move on.”

Edited by Benjamin Swasey

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