Republicans’ election audit is a ‘Nigerian prince’ scam

I’m wondering now if the chief fundraising strategist for the Arizona Republican Party is that infamous “Nigerian prince” from whom just about everyone in America has received an email.

You know the one.

He tells you he is descended from royalty and is trying desperately to get an enormous inheritance out of his country but he needs your help, for which he’ll provide you a sizable reward. He can’t do this under his own name, so all you need to do is help him by providing a “processing fee” or perhaps even your bank account number.

And, yes, it actually works. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are turned over to various princely con men each year.

Flimflam artists like this succeed by appealing to our worst traits, and to our best — greed, fear, indignation, loyalty, charity.

Former President Donald Trump was an expert at this.

For example, when it became clear he had lost the presidential election, Trump knew he was going to face some serious legal challenges as a private citizen.

Expensive legal challenges. Being a wealthy man, however, he couldn’t simply ask average Americans to send money that would benefit him alone. So he asked them instead to send money that, supposedly, would benefit THEM.

He created the “Save America” committee, and working with the Republican National Committee sent fundraising emails and texts to tens of thousands of supporters urging them to donate to his committee to help him fight what he said was widespread election

fraud.

These requests continued up to the time the mob was attacking the U.S. Capitol, and they brought Trump a huge windfall, roughly $76 million.

Of which he has spent practically nothing on investigating election fraud. And he doesn’t need to.

He can, and probably will, use the money for whatever he wants.

In the flimflam game they call that a “bait and switch.”

In Arizona, the political farce that is the Republican-sponsored election audit is a bit like that.

First, the Republican-controlled state Senate hired a company with no experience doing election audits, a company founded by a conspiracyspouting guy who posted unsubstantiated allegations about election fraud on Twitter.

Then they tried to keep the press out of their vote counting process. Perhaps because it was more chaos than process.

Then they admitted they can’t guarantee all political parties will be included as observers. Then they brought in former elected Republican Ken Bennett to oversee things, a man who denies he was an Obama “birther,” though as secretary of state he talked of keeping the former president’s name off the election ballot unless Hawaii could prove to him that Obama was born there.

Also, the people running this sideshow haven’t been particularly forthcoming on how they’re going to protect the private information of voters, which could include signatures, driver license numbers and the last four digits of your Social Security number.

Farce.

No one — not one person — except those who already believe in the fantasy of voter fraud will take anything these people say seriously, and nothing they are doing is going to change the outcome of the election.

So, why do it?

For the same reason that phony “Nigerian prince” sent you an email. The same reason Trump asked you to support his committee: Money.

The idea is to keep people riled up. Appeal to their emotions. Then hit them up for cash.

A website connected to Senate Republicans is asking donors for nearly $3 million.

And as Arizona Republic reporter Yvonne Wingett Sanchez pointed out in a recent story, Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward is sending video emails to supporters asking them to fork over some dough to help the party continue with the audit, saying, “It’s a fight and we need your help to keep it going …”

They’re even asking supporters to check a box on the fundraising page in which these trusting souls would agree to hand over monthly donations. Very slick.

I don’t believe either Trump or the “Nigerian prince” thought of that.