McDaniel vs. Dhillon: RNC Candidates Weigh In On Election Integrity

With one day left before Republican committee members decide who will lead the national party into 2024 and beyond, the party’s two frontrunners, incumbent Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel and California lawyer and RNC committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon, must make their case for why they are uniquely suited for the job. While there are many issues plaguing the national party’s leadership, there is one thing both candidates must deal with: election integrity.

RNC has existed for nearly 40 years unable To oversee the operation of poll watchers or to litigate elections pursuant to a 1982 consent order. In 1981, Democrats accused Republicans of voter intimidation in a New Jersey governor’s race. After the GOP reached a consent decree from the court, which limited Republican participation in any poll-watching operations, the case was settled. Little did Republicans realize that Dickinson Debevoise, the Jimmy Carter–appointed judge behind the consent decree, would prove to be such a partisan; he never let the GOP out of the decree, and repeatedly altered and strengthened it at Democrats’ request. After Debevoise formally retired from the bench, he stayed on for 21 years in senior status, a form of semi-retirement allowing judges to keep serving in a limited capacity, and kept enforcing the decree. The agreement was not revoked by an Obama-appointed judge until Debevoise’s death.

The Democratic National Committee enjoyed a four-decade advantage over Republicans. McDaniel said that after spending some years building and developing poll-watching infrastructure, the RNC could finally operate in the 2022 midterm. However, a recent op-ed Dhillon criticized party insiders for using consent decree as an excuse for The Daily Wire “for complete legal inaction on just about every front.” 

Some major GOP donors are putting their money behind Dhillon as they lobby for new leadership of the RNC, after McDaniel’s three consecutive terms as chair of the party.  McDaniel is likely to be reelected despite some support for Dhillon. after an endorsement letter The RNC circulated last month with the signatures of 107 of its 168 members. 

Still, the incumbent chairwoman isn’t taking any chances. During an interview with The Federalist, McDaniel repeatedly praised and defended the RNC’s record in the past election cycle, while also offering next steps for the party regarding election integrity. “We had three million more Republicans turn out than Democrats,” She made the observation. 

Dhillon also spoke with The Federalist and talked about what has to change on the state and national level regarding the GOP’s election efforts.

Election Integrity must be a year-round operation

Back in August 2021, after the RNC’s Committee on Election Integrity released a report The RNC has detailed information about the changes to voting procedures that were made in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. announced A “year-round election integrity operation” The new organization would be called the “Election Integrity Director”. This included the hiring of in-state election integrity officers, training poll watchers and engaging in election related litigation. 

According to a letter All state election integrity was sent to the RNC after the 2022 midterms by the grassroots-organized Election Integrity Network.