Six months after Trump’s loss, votes are counted again

Former President Trump believes the preselection of votes will show he is the real winner in the desert state. It demands that other states recheck the results. “They will find thousands of voices here,” he said. “And then we’re going to look at Pennsylvania and Georgia. These elections were a punch.”

Conspiracy

The recount is commissioned by the Arizona State Senate, where Republicans have given $ 150,000 in tax dollars to an Internet company that has no experience in poll research.

Correspondent Erik Mouthaan says company founder CyberNinjas adheres to conspiracy theories. “This man thinks that there is a secret server in Germany that lists the real results of the US presidential election, and that the CIA and the military carried out a shootout to keep the result a secret. Everything is very vague. , and feels like Qanon is now on the elections. “

The company received the original ballots and employed hundreds of volunteers. But they don’t seem to adhere to the rules set out in the electoral law.

For example, people who check the ballots are only allowed to use a red pen, because voters are allowed to use black and blue ink on the ballot, and if the verifier fills in an extra box with blue ink, she can then claim that the ballot was illegally filled by the voter.

11,000 vote difference between Biden and Trump

Mouthaan: “Het verschil tussen Biden en Trump in Arizona was 11,000 stemmen. Na de oorspronkelijke telling zijn er al twee hertellingen geweest, en elke keer behield Biden zijn voorsprong. De kans dat er opeens 11,000 ongeldige stemmen worden gevondsteen bij de zovekelijke small. “

The techniques used raise the eyebrows of election experts. For example, the images show that the ballots are placed under UV light. According to the election official, there is no watermark in the ballot, so nothing can be seen via UV. But the organizers of the recount say something can be read from the folds of the notes or the printing of the pen on the paper.

Bamboo traces

One of the participants told a local reporter that “bamboo tracks” were being examined. “It is said that 40,000 Southeast Asian ballots were thrown into the Arizona ballot box. And in Asia, they are using bamboo to make paper.”

The minister responsible for the state of Arizona for the elections speaks of an absurd and suspicious expedition.

The Ministry of Justice is also questioning the fact that ballots are lying around unattended, for example. “They are not properly secured by the contractor in a poorly guarded facility. Tickets may be lost or destroyed.” The company organizing the census rejects the criticism.

Trump’s influence

“It is remarkable that after six months we were still working on the 2020 results,” says correspondent Mouthaan. Former President Trump continues to call that frauds have been committed, and organizers in Arizona appear to be looking for evidence of that, or else raising suspicions that would allow Trump to keep his supporters upset by what happened. The fraud claim is called “The Big Lie” here, The Big Lie. “

A recent Reuters / Ipsos poll found that 60% of Republicans believe Joe Biden is not the legitimate president and that fraud is involved, even though Republican governors in states where it was exciting say the result is correct. “The myth of fraud is the basis of Trump’s candidacy for 2024,” the US correspondent said.

Liz Cheney: star elsewhere

The party leadership in Washington is now fully engaged with Trump. The group’s number three in the House of Representatives, Liz Cheney, is expected to be removed from office next week.

Donald Trump is furious because Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, thinks the party should turn away from Trump. Cheney written in an opinion piece: “The Republican Party is at a crossroads. We Republicans must stand up for genuinely conservative positions and steer clear of the dangerous and undemocratic cult of personality that surrounds Trump.”

His opposition annoys the leader of the group, which is trying to strengthen ties with Trump. He knows Republican voters still adore Trump and is betting that without his constituency’s enthusiasm, Republicans will lose the 2022 legislative election.

No social media

Erik Mouthaan points out that Facebook has decided this week not to allow Trump on the platform for the moment. “Trump no longer has a megaphone on social media. He’s barely stepping outside his domain of Mar-a-Lago. Yet he holds the Republican movement in suspense. It’s still his party.”

The Arizona census could take weeks. Local New Hampshire party administrators have also called for a recount.