Poll of the Day > At least 7 states had electors sign fake documents to try and steal the election

(+) Yeah! (+)

By Steve Benen

Wisconsin Republicans did not respond well to the state's election results in November 2020, when Donald Trump narrowly lost the state. In fact, after the state Supreme Court affirmed President Joe Biden's victory in Wisconsin, and it came time for state officials to complete the process, some Republicans went in an especially ridiculous direction.

It was on Dec. 14, 2020, when Wisconsin electors met in the state capitol for an official ceremony in which the state formally assigned its electors for the electoral college. There wasn't anything unusual about this: On the same day, every state did this, with Trump electors being assigned in states won by the GOP ticket, and Biden electors being assigned in states won by the Democratic ticket.

But as we discussed a couple of weeks ago, the process in the Badger State became a little messier: While the actual electors were being assigned inside the state capitol in Madison, a group of Wisconsin Republicans quietly held a separate, fake ceremony in the same capitol, at the same time to cast electoral votes for Trump, despite his defeat in the state.

They then proceeded to forge the official paperwork and sent it to, among others, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Archivist, as if the materials were legitimate. They were not.

As Rachel noted on last night's show, that's an important controversy in its own right, but what we didn't know until yesterday was that Wisconsin wasn't alone. Politico reported:

"As Trump's team pushed its discredited voter fraud narrative, the National Archives received forged certificates of ascertainment declaring him and then-Vice President Mike Pence the winners of both Michigan and Arizona and their electors after the 2020 election. Public records requests show the secretaries of state for those states sent those certificates to the Jan. 6 panel, along with correspondence between the National Archives and state officials about the documents."

I have three questions.

First, were these efforts legal? Groups of Republicans in three states signed their names to forged documents, pretended they were real, and sent them to government agencies. I'm not an attorney and can't speak with any authority on whether this constituted fraud, but I'll be eager to learn what legal experts have to say about the schemes.

Second, did these GOP groups have any outside help? The materials out of Wisconsin and Michigan, for example, were practically identical, with matching formatting and fonts. Was this an amazing coincidence or was there some kind of behind-the-scenes coordination? If so, who played an organizing role?

And third, exactly how many states featured pro-Trump Republicans creating forged election materials? We previously knew of one; now we know of three.

Trump lost 25 states in 2020. How many of them included election opponents willing to send fake documents to government offices?

Brought to you by MSNBC, the same news outlet that was ejected from a courthouse for trying to dox jurors. But since it's being highlighted by grannynannynews via twitter it must be solid, right?

Oh yes, defend daddy Trump till the end. Give him your money too.

I'm not a Trump supporter. I'm just not so brainwashed I can't see both sides are full of shit. Clearly you can't say the same.

I'm not a Trump supporter. I'm just not so brainwashed I can't see both sides are full of shit. Clearly you can't say the same.

I'm not a Trump supporter. I'm just not so brainwashed I can't see both sides are full of shit. Clearly you can't say the same.

It's become increasingly obvious that there are few to no guards in place designed to ensure that the US remains a democracy.

A functional system should first and foremost be able to ensure it's own continued existence.

Given it's Maddow and MSNBC making the claims, take it with a grain of salt. MSNBC is literally the leftwing version of Fox News, considering their shared history.

Oh yes, defend daddy Trump till the end. Give him your money too.

I'm not a Trump supporter. I'm just not so brainwashed I can't see both sides are full of shit. Clearly you can't say the same.

Brought to you by MSNBC, the same news outlet that was ejected from a courthouse for trying to dox jurors. But since it's being highlighted by grannynannynews via twitter it must be solid, right?

I'm not a Trump supporter. I'm just not so brainwashed I can't see both sides are full of shit. Clearly you can't say the same.

Given it's Maddow and MSNBC making the claims, take it with a grain of salt. MSNBC is literally the leftwing version of Fox News, considering their shared history.

This was known for like 2 years, I've mentioned it a few times.

It's become increasingly obvious that there are few to no guards in place designed to ensure that the US remains a democracy.

A functional system should first and foremost be able to ensure it's own continued existence.

almost entirely thanks to one particular political party

Yeah, both sides are just completely full of shit in every single matter and should therefore never be taken seriously. There ya go. It must be nice to be led around on a leash by your confirmation bias so you never have to confront uncomfortable truths. When it comes to 2020 election fraud only one side is full of shit.

Yeah, I should totally trust the people that are all walking in lock step with big tech, the pharmaceutical industry, and the federal government. I mean, it's such a trustworthy bunch, they would never tell a lie for personal gain.

I think it's safe to say that most elections have some level of wrongdoing involved regardless of party so that's just the way that goes but there has never been enough election fraud committed to steal an 8th grade student council election but a certain faction paints of running rampant fraud and that's not the case.

I'm not a Trump supporter. I'm just not so brainwashed I can't see both sides are full of shit. Clearly you can't say the same.

Yes, the Democrats being do-nothing moderates who still think bipartisanship is an option

In-person election fraud, the type that Voter IDs "claim" to fix, happens so rarely that it's nearly a mathematical rounding error.

I will never get the US's issues with requiring ID to vote. You are required to carry an ID at all timaes anyway as an adult, so that should be no issue.

You are required to carry an ID at all times anyway as an adult, so that should be no issue.

You are required to carry an ID at all times anyway as an adult, so that should be no issue.

What the fuck? No? You're required to have a driving license when you're, you know, driving, and ID as proof of identity and age when, say buying alcohol, getting some jobs, etc...

Pretty much every functioning adult always carries their ID on them

This could not be more irrelevant to the point.

The point is that it pretty much is required just to go about your daily life because you need it pretty frequently for all sorts of things

I can generally count on one hand the number of times in a year I need to show my ID (pre-vaccine requirements, though even then I'm not actually doing much stuff that requires PoV). I almost always have it on me when I leave the house because it just lives in my wallet, but I quite rarely end up using it. It's certainly not required to go about my daily life.

It is, so it's not a bad idea to carry it, but that's still a far cry from "required to go about my daily life."

Funny way of saying I'm a republican stooge that thinks I should always do what the rich man tells me to.

Pretty much every functioning adult always carries their ID on them

It's weird that cons keep spouting this when it's factually untrue.

That word "functioning" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. In practice it means "excluding the poors".

You're actually the one that's applying an inherent quality to what I personally mean by "functioning."

its important to look at both sides of complicated issues such as committing election fraud. its easy to say 'trying to steal an election is always wrong' from the top of your ivory tower, but what if you really really want to?

I'm applying stats to a statement of fact.

Whether or not people have an ID, and who has an ID, isn't some kind of weird subjective quality.

People supporting these laws are deliberately pretending that IDs are universally prevlent despite an excess of evidence that they are not. The fact that you go out of your way to shit on those without them is just your way of justifying the blatant voter suppression to yourself.

Oh yeah, give me some proof of these claims. Even most homeless people have IDs. How else would they buy beer lmao

Everyone outside of the most schizophrenic homeless dudes have IDs. And trust me, those schizophrenic dudes aren't gonna be voting anyway

Oh yeah, give me some proof of these claims. Even most homeless people have IDs. How else would they buy beer lmao

Everyone outside of the most schizophrenic homeless dudes have IDs. And trust me, those schizophrenic dudes aren't gonna be voting anyway