The individuals who posed as electors in an attempt to assist Donald Trump in overturning the 2020 presidential election are once again poised to play a role in the upcoming election next month.
According to NOTUS, only 14 out of the 82 slated electors in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, and Nevada participated in Trump’s fraudulent elector scheme during the 2020 election.
In the upcoming election next month, two of Nevada’s fake electors from 2020 will be making a comeback. Among them is Michael McDonald, the state’s Republican Party chair, who has taken on the role of a senior adviser for the Trump campaign. Similarly, Michigan will also see the return of six fake electors for the upcoming election.
In the upcoming election, New Mexico will have one fake elector returning from 2020, whereas Pennsylvania plans to bring back five out of its 19 fake electors for the 2024 contest. However, both Arizona and Wisconsin have implemented measures to prevent the recurrence of fake electors.
In 2020, Arizona’s attorney general brought charges against 18 individuals involved in the state’s fraudulent elector scheme. Notably, the list of Arizona electors for 2024 does not include the 11 individuals who served as fake electors in the previous election.
Among them are a Turning Point USA executive, two state representatives, and the executive director of the Arizona Republican Party.
Wisconsin’s 10 fake electors faced a lawsuit filed by a progressive law firm in collaboration with the Georgetown University Law Center.
Eventually, the case was resolved through a settlement in which all the fake electors agreed to make a public statement affirming President Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Furthermore, they committed to never serving as electors for Trump in the future.
Even though not all of the fake electors from the 2020 election are planning to replicate their actions this time around, there are still some who hold influential positions in states like Wisconsin.
Robert F. Spindell Jr., for instance, currently serves on the Wisconsin Elections Commission until 2026 and is committed to ensuring that voters have complete confidence in the election results.
In Shelby Township, a Detroit suburb, there is a concerning situation involving Stanley T. Grot. Despite being indicted last year along with other fake electors in Michigan, Grot, who serves as the clerk, has chosen not to resign from his position.
It is alarming since his responsibilities include maintaining the local voter registration files and overseeing the upcoming elections in November.
In Georgia, Burt Jones, a fake elector, managed to secure the position of the state’s lieutenant governor. Trump endorsed Jones, praising him as a “conservative warrior” who would uncover the alleged scam surrounding the November 3 presidential election.
President Biden took a significant step in 2022 by signing Electoral College reform into law. This action was aimed at preventing a recurrence of the chaos caused by Trump during the 2020 elections.
However, despite this reform, the latest report from NOTUS reveals that the same group of pro-Trump conservatives still hold positions of power, which leaves open the possibility for them to create chaos in various scenarios once again.