Topline
A letter was sent by Donald Trump to the Texas governor. Greg Abbott (R), asked him on Thursday to immediately conduct an audit of the state's 2020 presidential election. He won by six percentage points.
At a "Make America Great Again!" rally in Phoenix, Arizona on August 22, 2017, President Donald Trump gives two thumbs-up. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images
The Key Facts
Trump didn't make any specific claims to back up his call to audit Texas. He said he supported it because: I heard Texans want an electoral audit! Trump urged Texas to pass House Bill 16 in the ongoing special session. Abbott was asked to support the legislation. This would establish a civil procedure for investigating election irregularities if they are reported. This bill is based on legislation that state senator Paul Bettencourt (R), introduced in an earlier special session. He told the Houston Chronicle that the bill was not intended to authorize an Arizona-style audit. Trump's victory in Texas is widely seen as a disaster by Democrats who failed to win control of the Texas House as they had hoped.
Important Quote
Trump stated in the letter that citizens don't trust the electoral system and want your leadership on the issue.
Important Background
In the wake of Trump's false claims that there was widespread fraud, Republican state legislators in all 50 states have made it a top priority to tighten voting restrictions and examine election processes more closely. Numerous recounts following Election Day confirmed President Joe Biden's win and disproved Trumps fraud claims. However, that hasn't stopped some Republicans from conducting their own conspiracy theory-driven investigations into election results. Arizona is the most notable example. In Arizona, a hand recount of over 2 million Maricopa County votes took place in the past five months. The audit used bizarre methods like scanning ballots for bamboo fibers in order to investigate the absurd claim that the ballots had been shipped from Asia. Wisconsin Republican legislators and Pennsylvania Republican legislators have ordered reviews of election results despite the fact recounts have not revealed anything that could change the long-certified 2020 results.
What to Watch
The conspiracy theorists hired by Arizona Republicans to conduct the audit will release their findings on Friday at 4 p.m. ET. The audit will not be open for public comment.
Continue reading
Arizona's Bizarre Election Audit: Ballots are being checked for bamboo and the election chief has been assigned protection (Forbes).
Texas Republicans make last-ditch effort in Texas to audit 2020 election results, especially in Harris County (Houston Chronicle).
Arizona's Election Review is Nearing an End, but Copycats are Just Starting (The New York Times).
