RNC faces backlash after launching barrage of election integrity lawsuits across the country

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: As the battleground for the White House rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump intensifies, a quieter but significant battle is unfolding behind the scenes.

The Republican National Committee (RNC), revitalized under Trump's influence, has launched a barrage of election-related lawsuits across nearly half of the states in the country.

RNC's legal strategy takes center stage

The legal offensive, which includes recent suits in Michigan and Nevada concerning voter roll maintenance, forms a crucial component of the GOP's strategy to influence various aspects of voting and election administration.

While the tactic of resorting to litigation is not novel for the RNC, recent internal shifts within the organization, coupled with heightened pressure from Trump, underscore the increasing importance of legal maneuvers as November's Election Day draws near.

These lawsuits serve multiple purposes, including shaping campaign messaging, facilitating fundraising efforts, and casting doubts on the legitimacy of the electoral process.

Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to both the RNC and the Trump campaign, emphasized the significance of these legal battles. "This is something that's very important to President Trump," Alvarez stated. “He has said that this is something the RNC should do year-round.”

However, the escalating litigation has drawn criticism from Democrats and legal experts who warn of potential repercussions.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has responded by bolstering its own legal infrastructure, investing substantial resources in a voter protection operation aimed at countering the GOP's efforts to restrict access to the polls.

Alex Floyd, a spokesperson for the DNC, criticized the RNC's tactics. “The RNC is actively deploying an army of lawyers to make it harder for Americans’ ballots to be counted,” he said.

The surge in election-related litigation witnessed since the 2020 election, marked by Trump's unsuccessful challenges to his loss, indicates a broader trend.

Miriam Seifter, an attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School, noted that “litigation seems to now be a fixture of each party’s political and electoral strategies."

The RNC's legal targets encompass a range of issues, including voter ID rules, mail ballots, and voter roll maintenance. The latest lawsuit filed against Michigan alleges failures in maintaining accurate voter rolls. Critics argue that the lawsuit relies on flawed data and risks disenfranchising legitimate voters.

Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, criticized the methodology behind the lawsuits.

“They’re claiming there’s a problem because one piece of data doesn’t match another piece of data,” said Levitt. “But the pieces of data they’re trying to match don’t measure the same thing. It’s like saying, ‘I just looked at the clock and it’s different from the temperature on my thermometer'.”

Similarly, Caren Short, director of legal and research for the League of Women Voters, expressed concern over the RNC's attempts to purge voters from the rolls, highlighting the organization's shift from fringe groups to mainstream political entities. “Now seeing a prominent political party attempting to purge people from the rolls, it’s very concerning,” she said.

Despite previous setbacks, the RNC shows no signs of relenting, with a plethora of lawsuits pending in various states. Alvarez revealed that the lifting of a federal consent decree in 2018 has emboldened the RNC's efforts to challenge voter verification and bolster "ballot security."

In response to the heightened focus on election litigation, the RNC announced plans to train poll watchers, poll workers, and lawyers, aiming to mobilize over 100,000 attorneys and volunteers to monitor vote counting across battleground states in November.

The RNC's prioritization of election litigation reflects recent changes within the organization, as leaders like Michael Whatley and Lara Trump reshape its agenda with a renewed emphasis on "election integrity." The group recently appointed "election integrity directors" in 13 states, the New York Post reported.

Social media backlash

While the RNC's legal offensive has drawn praise from some quarters, it has sparked outrage on social media, with critics decrying the GOP's tactics.

"So the GOP is finally willing to fight it out in the courts? Good," one posted on X.

"The GOP is bereft of ideas. Once you get past their anger and their political stunts they have no plan to articulate how to make our country better. They had opportunities to fix immigration and the deficit but didn’t. So now to win they need to make sure voters can’t vote," another chimed in.

"One party wants you to vote the other doesn't. Remember this in November when you vote," someone else insisted.

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