GOP runs voting process in most battleground states,
Donald Trump on Monday continued a potentially dangerous drumbeat: questioning the integrity of the American election system.
These warnings are not new and not supported by evidence; they defy numerous studies that have found that voter fraud is minimal.
They also invite a question: If the election is rigged, who is doing the rigging?
Presidential elections are done on a state-by-state basis, not nationally. And in most of the states seen as presidential battlegrounds, the chief elections officers are Republicans — most directly accountable to their state’s voters.
■ In Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Utah, the chief elections officer of the state is a Republican, elected by voters. Most are secretary of state; Utah’s lieutenant governor oversees elections there.
■ In Florida, the secretary of state is appointed by the state’s GOP governor, Rick Scott — a Trump supporter.
■ In North Carolina, the state board of elections has five members, appointed by the governor — currently a Republican. Its chairman and three out of five members are Republicans.
There are states with some measure of Democratic control over the process.
■ In Minnesota and Missouri, the chief elections officer is a Democrat elected by the voters of the state.
■ Pennsylvania’s secretary of state was appointed by the state’s Democratic governor.
■ New Hampshire’s longtime secretary of state was once a Democrat but was re-elected to his post by the GOP-led state Legislature.
■ Virginia’s Democratic governor, Terry McAuliffe — a longtime Clinton ally — appointed each member of that state’s three-person elections board.
The Clinton campaign has denounced Trump’s rhetoric.
“Campaigns should be hardfought and elections hard-won, but what is fundamental about the American electoral system is that it is free, fair and open to the people. Participation in the system — and particularly voting — should be encouraged, not dismissed or undermined because a candidate is afraid he’s going to lose,” campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement Saturday.