The push for Michigan goes beyond Antrim County. Last week, the Cheboygan County board of commissioners voted 4-3 to request an audit of county results and ask the state elections director for approval. Trump won the county with overwhelming support.This audit does not provide any information or gain. The audit will be as it is, Cheboygan Commissioner Michael Newman (a Republican who was one of three commissioners to vote against an audit request) said in an interview.Interview requests were not received from the commissioners who voted in favor of an audit.Newman said that he believes Biden was properly elected. He said that there was a local pressure campaign for an audit. However, his constituents in his district encouraged him to vote against it.They want us to be changed so that we are not seated anymore. And they want to sue our county administrator. Newman spoke out about activists who were pushing for the audit.In the state legislature, Steve Carra (a freshman Republican state representative) recently proposed legislation to require a forensic audit. Carra stated that he believes there was substantial fraud in the 2020 election. He is currently primarying Rep. Fred Upton, a Republican from Michigan who voted to impeach Trump. He stated that the election results are an important factor for Republicans.It is the most important issue for my community. Carra stated that it is also the number one issue for conservative colleagues in the state. If they vote against it, I believe that's something that their communities wouldn't appreciate.Similar efforts have been made elsewhere. Pennsylvania state senator Doug Mastriano, who has become a vocal supporter of Trump's lies about the election and is now considering running for governor of the state, has raised his political profile. Mastriano visited Arizona and pushed for an audit. Trump also attacked Republican leaders in Pennsylvania that haven't backed him.Trump stated in a mid-June statement that other State Senators would like this Forensic audit to be conducted immediately. If Corman continues to resist transparency and his resistance, I am certain that he will lose the primaries.Doug Logan, the Florida-based Cyber Ninjas owner, discusses overseeing an audit of the 2020 election ballot at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, on April 22, 2021. Ross D. Franklin/AP PhotoGeorgian conspiracy theories persist about Trump's loss, despite the fact that the state had its votes recounted twice in 2020. David Shafer, Republican State Party Chair, also visited the Arizona site and praised the calls to have an audit done in his home state.Shafer stated that the vast majority of Republicans believe there were irregularities in last year's election, but that they have not been thoroughly investigated.The majority of a lawsuit seeking to review absentee votes in Fulton County, Atlanta, was also dismissed by a Georgia state judge. Plaintiffs were trying to uncover fraud in the state.In Wisconsin, Robin Vos, the state Assembly Speaker has appointed retired police officers to investigate any irregularities or illegalities in this election. Two Assembly Republicans from Arizona traveled with Trump and have expressed their desire to see similar efforts in their state. Trump recently attacked Vos, as well as other Republicans, for actively trying to stop a Forensic audit. However, backlash against Vos at the state convention was mild.POLITICO was recently informed by a Trump advisor that Trump is still determined to perform audits and will continue to press Republicans for the courage to do so.Election experts are also concerned by the particularities of Arizona's process. They fear that activists elsewhere might try to copy or replicate a flawed state approach.This so-called audit is now in conspiratorial territory. Workers checked ballots for bamboo fibers (a reference to the bogus theory that some ballots were sent from Asia), and also used UV lights to check for watermarks. Cyber Ninjas is also owned by a man who promotes the #StopTheSteal conspiracy theory. This is based on the belief that Trump won and was recently featured in a conspiracy-filled movie about it.Morrell, an observer, stated that it was obvious they didn't know how elections were administered. The problem is that they have suddenly abandoned the place where the rule of law is followed, and it's like the Wild Wild West.The effort or at least its initial stages appear to be ending. Twitter pseudo-official account claimed that Friday's paper examination and count of nearly 2.1 million ballots was completed. The Associated Press was informed by Ken Bennett, a former Arizona Republican Secretary of State who served as a liaison to the effort. He said that a report could take weeks or months.(Bennett received a request for interview and an additional email address. A staffer acknowledged the requests repeatedly, but no one was available.Experts in elections warn that any conclusions drawn from the Arizona review are not trustworthy. The nonpartisan States United Democracy Center report, which was co-authored by Trey Grayson, former Kentucky Republican Secretary of state, and Barry Burden (director of the Elections Research Center at University of WisconsinMadison), criticized the Arizona effort for being poorly managed and not transparent.Grayson said that Republicans will be hurt if they fixate on 2020. He said he wanted to participate in the [report] because he was worried. Grayson also noted that he is an active member of the party and had just attended a fundraiser for a Republican senator. Republicans should see that I am one of those who is telling them to not waste their time nor waste their money. You are destroying confidence. It's backfiring.Trump and his supporters also glommed onto legitimate efforts elsewhere, but quickly abandoned them when they didn't turn up evidence that the former president wanted.After a recount revealed that a Republican candidate had received hundreds more votes than originally tallied, a bipartisan group of New Hampshire legislators authorized an audit of the state House of Representatives race. Election experts claim that the New Hampshire audit was unusual because it took place after the election and there weren't any laws in place for conducting a post-election audit. What is the major difference between Arizona & New Hampshire? The audit was conducted by respected election professionals.Trump initially praised Trump's audit as part the extraordinary fight to uncover the truth about the massive Election Fraud that occurred in New Hampshire and the 2020 Presidential Election.The real culprit was not fraud conspiracy, but a combination of tabulators who incorrectly read ballots made of poorly-made folds, voters who cast too many votes for certain races, and dusty machinery. Trump didn't issue a public proclamation after a more innocent explanation was presented.Mark Lindeman, who was part of the New Hampshire audit, is acting codirector of Verified Voting. He cites threats to election workers that were made by conspiracy theorists.He continued, "I thought that either someone, if he may say so about me, responsible would do it." Or irresponsible people, and in fact the same people who did the work in Maricopa County.This report was contributed by Maya King and David Siders.
