States United Action, Fair Fight Action, and United to Protect Democracy Release Digital Tool To Track Sham Election “Audits” Across the Country

Washington, D.C. — On Monday, States United Action, Fair Fight Action, and United to Protect Democracy launched a first-of-its-kind web tool designed to track state-specific attacks on election integrity via sham election reviews, like the ongoing so-called “audit” in Maricopa County, Arizona. The tracking tool, found at NotAnAudit.com, details the commonalities between the chaos unfolding in Maricopa County and other attempts at fake investigations into the 2020 election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Earlier today, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, Fair Fight Action, Protect Democracy and States United Action hosted a briefing to share the latest updates on the trend of fake election reviews and to highlight the threat they pose to our democracy and trust in our elections. 

“These fake election reviews are costing us more than time and taxpayer dollars; this is an organized attempt to undermine people’s faith in our elections,” said Joanna Lydgate, Founder and CEO of States United Action. “But, in this country, it’s the voters who choose our leaders – not the other way around. The American people deserve elected officials who are focused on governing and bringing us together, not fueling division over an election that has been proven fair again and again. Luckily, people aren’t buying it—the more Americans know about these so-called ‘investigations,’ the more they distrust them. We’re going to continue to put a spotlight on the truth: the 2020 election was free, fair, and accurate.”

The microsite details the similarities in these bad faith election reviews and spotlights the facts on the ground in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Each sham election review is fraught with election protection and security issues, lack of clear procedures and protocols, and links back to lies about the 2020 election that led to the January 6 insurrection. These efforts have been discredited by election experts and bipartisan leaders across the country. 

“Across the country, anti-democratic conspiracy theorists are using private, partisan investigations of election results in an intentional disinformation strategy that is undermining American democracy and fueling threats of violence and harassment against election workers and officials forced to repeatedly engage with dangerous propaganda,” said Esosa Osa, Research and Policy Director at Fair Fight Action. “These sham reviews have spread to at least four states and provided baseless fodder for a nationwide push to restrict voting as over 400 anti-voter bills have been introduced this year alone, including 216 bills directly undermining election administration. Not since Jim Crow have we seen such blatant, anti-democratic election subversion tactics used to suppress the vote in America. It is incumbent upon the media to report responsibly on these widely discredited investigations and help protect voters and election workers from the growing tide of dangerous election disinformation.”

“These bad-faith reviews are an unprecedented attack on the foundations of our democracy. What’s transpired in Arizona is embarrassing and dangerous to our democracy, and is not something that anyone should copy. Unprofessional, inexperienced partisans who have already expressed an interest in claiming fraud should not be given unfettered access to voters’ ballots and the government’s election machinery,” said Sara Chimene-Weiss, counsel at Protect Democracy. “Bi-partisan voices have condemned these ‘audits,’ and no one should take them seriously.”

NotAnAudit.com highlights the following reasons to trust the official results and oppose these attempts to undermine voters’ confidence in the integrity of our elections

    IN ARIZONA: From November 4 through November 9, 2020, as required by Arizona law,  a physical hand recount of roughly 2% of in-person votes and 5,000 early voting ballots was conducted in all fifteen counties, including Maricopa County, and found no discrepancies. IN GEORGIA: From November 11 through November 19, 2020, Georgia’s 159 counties conducted a hand audit of nearly 5 million ballots, and found no evidence of voter fraud. IN MICHIGAN: The state conducted its most comprehensive series of audits in 2020-21, consisting of 250 different audits—the most in the state’s history and that confirmed the results of the election. The Secretary of State said that all of the audits provided “concrete evidence that November’s election was fair, secure and accurate, and that the results reflect the will of Michigan voters.” IN PENNSYLVANIA: Pennsylvania allows observers from each party to watch ballot counting. Their ability to get close enough was subject to a number of lawsuits that were all rejected and the courts held that observer requirements were complied with during the 2020 election. IN WISCONSIN: Prior to certification of the election results, the Wisconsin Election Commission ordered a full, hand recount of close to 800,000 ballots in Milwaukee and Dane counties—the state’s two largest population centers—following a demand from the Trump campaign. Trump campaign observers observed the recount, and the Trump campaign paid approximately $3 million for it. That recount resulted in net gains for Biden’s vote totals and confirmed that Biden carried the state.

Also on Monday, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, Fair Fight Action, Protect Democracy and States United Action hosted a briefing to share the latest updates on the trend of fake election reviews and to highlight the threat they pose to our democracy and trust in our elections. Last week, the Brennan Center, the R Street Institute, and Protect Democracy released a report analyzing the spread of these “audits” and how they fail to measure up to legitimate audits by unbiased professionals. 

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About States United Action

States United Action is a nonpartisan section 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization with a mission to protect our elections and our democracy. States United Action advocates for policies that protect election integrity, hold democracy violators accountable, and prevent political violence that threatens to undermine the will of the American people, and amplifies the voices of state leaders and law enforcement leaders who share these values.

About Fair Fight Action

Founded by Stacey Abrams, Fair Fight Action promotes fair elections around the country, encourages voter participation in elections, and educates voters about elections and their voting rights. Fair Fight Action brings awareness to the public on election reform, advocates for election reform at all levels, and engages in other voter education programs and communications.

About United to Protect Democracy

United to Protect Democracy is a 501(c)(4) organization focusing on advocacy efforts to confront threats to our democracy.