{"id":1422735,"date":"2022-04-06T22:14:46","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T02:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1422735"},"modified":"2022-04-06T22:14:48","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T02:14:48","slug":"exclusive-rep-ted-budd-more-work-to-do-on-election-integrity-in-north-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-rep-ted-budd-more-work-to-do-on-election-integrity-in-north-carolina\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive \u2014 Rep. Ted Budd: &#039;More Work to Do&#039; on Election Integrity in North Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-rep-ted-budd-more-work-to-do-on-election-integrity-in-north-carolina%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1422735&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">As \u201cfair elections\u201d continue to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/03\/22\/survey-fair-elections-top-issue-facing-the-country-coronavirus-sinks\/\">poll<\/a> as a top priority for U.S. voters, Trump-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) said his home state of North Carolina has \u201cmore work to do\u201d on election integrity to ensure people \u201cbelieve that their vote counts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Tuesday, the congressman spoke on combating voter fraud, apathy from establishment Republicans, and fending off the false narratives of far-left Democrats looking to federalize elections. The House Republican has notably <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/116th-congress\/house-bill\/8770\/all-info?r=37&#038;s=1\">introduced<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/house-bill\/4044\/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22VOTE+act%22%2C%22VOTE%22%2C%22act%22%5D%7D&#038;r=1&#038;s=1\">co-sponsored<\/a> numerous bills aimed at bolstering election integrity, one of which is ironically dubbed the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/house-bill\/860\/all-info\">You Must be Alive to Vote Act<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The bill is even more timely now, given a recent Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) <a href=\"https:\/\/publicinterestlegal.org\/reports\/north-carolina-tens-of-thousands-of-deceased-and-duplicative-voter-registrations-found-after-2020-election\/\">investigation<\/a> which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/03\/29\/north-carolina-voter-rolls-rife-deceased-duplicate-registrations-2020-election\/\">discovered<\/a>\u00a0tens of thousands of deceased and duplicate voter registrations after the 2020 election in North Carolina. PILF in its findings emphasized the importance of removing these voters from the registry before what looks to be a \u201cclose election\u201d in the state.\u00a0Budd commented on the investigation, saying cleaning up the voter rolls before the May 17 Republican primary should not be a \u201cpartisan issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019ve made progress during this election cycle \u2014 I think there\u2019s more work to do. And again, I don\u2019t think this should be a partisan issue,\u201d he said. \u201cI think this is about faith in our institutions and [the ability to] rest on the integrity of whether or not people believe that their vote counts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But more needs to be done to protect the right to vote besides keeping tidy voter rolls, introducing legislation at a federal level, and even winning back the House, Senate, and White House, Budd said. The congressman emphasized the importance of local and state races in the\u00a0Tar Heel State and around the country in introducing election integrity measures.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe have to make sure that we have a super majority in the general assembly, the State House, the State Senate, and also on our State Supreme Court.\u00a0[They need to focus on]\u00a0particularly voter ID, which is so state-oriented [and] has been overwhelmingly supported by the Republican general assembly and on a ballot,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026But liberal justices in the State Supreme Court of North Carolina have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinajournal.com\/news-article\/senator-raises-concerns-about-n-c-supreme-court-sidestepping-standard-process\/\">overturned<\/a> it repeatedly and violated the will of the people. \u2026We need voter ID in the states and it takes a state Supreme Court that doesn\u2019t overturn the will of people to do that.\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Budd, who is leading his competitor former Gov. Pat McCrory by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/04\/05\/poll-trump-endorsed-rep-ted-budd-takes-huge-lead-north-carolina-senate-primary\/\">double digits<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/04\/05\/poll-trump-endorsed-rep-ted-budd-takes-huge-lead-north-carolina-senate-primary\/\">recent polling<\/a>, took the opportunity to jab at establishment-backed McCrory for \u201cwavering\u201d on election integrity. McCrory is notably backed by\u00a0outgoing Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), one of the seven Senate Republicans who voted in favor of convicting former President Donald Trump of impeachment charges in 2021.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWell, of all the candidates in this race,\u00a0 I have the strongest record on election integrity, and I\u2019m the only candidate in this race to actually stand up to Constitutional violations in 2020. So, when it was on the line, I stood up for the Constitution,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>After McCrory\u00a0<a title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/midterm-election\/2021\/04\/14\/former-north-carolina-gov-pat-mccrory-launches-bid-for-2022-senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">served<\/a>\u00a0as Charlotte mayor for 14 years and governor for one term, he hosted a popular Charlotte-based radio show before terminating it last year to run for office. On his Nov. 23, 2020,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/the-pat-mccrory-show-with-bo-thompson-1\/the-pat-mccrory-show-with-bo-thompson-11-23-2020#description\">radio show<\/a>\u00a0at around 56 minutes, he said Georgia gubernatorial candidate \u201cStacy Abrams is getting a free ride by the national media. Because she\u2019s doing the exact same thing Donald Trump is doing, destroying democracy.\u201d A clip of McCrory\u2019s comment was used in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/03\/10\/exclusive-club-for-growth-begins-massive-pro-budd-north-carolina-senate-blitz-with-brutal-hit-slamming-mcrory-for-fauci-praise\/\">Club For Growth<\/a>\u2018s political attack ad against him.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s not surprising because he didn\u2019t even stand up for himself and fight in 2016 when he lost, and he was the only Republican governor nationally that lost in 2016,\u201d Budd said.\u00a0<\/span><span>\u201cHe\u2019s saying he\u2019s the most electable, but he\u2019s lost this state twice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>Budd reflected on how his stance on election integrity was key in securing\u00a0 Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/06\/05\/trump-backs-ted-budd-senate-bid-he-will-fight-like-hell-in-north-carolina\/\">endorsement<\/a> last summer \u2014 a coveted endorsement which voters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/04\/05\/poll-trump-endorsed-rep-ted-budd-takes-huge-lead-north-carolina-senate-primary\/\">say<\/a> makes them more likely to vote for Budd over his competitors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut when it comes to [election integrity] I\u2019m the only one that hasn\u2019t wavered on this. And that\u2019s why President Trump endorsed me. He told me before he endorsed me \u2014 he said, \u2018Ted, lots of candidates have wavered, but you\u2019ve never wavered on America First policies or on the important issues,\u2019 and that\u2019s why he endorsed me,\u201d Budd continued.<b>\u00a0<\/b>\u201cWhat we need is Republicans that we can trust, that respect the will of the people \u2014 including on election integrity. And we just can\u2019t trust McCrory to be conservative.\u201d<b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Besides cleaning up the GOP, Budd said Republicans must continue exposing far-left Democrats\u2019 \u201clanguage games,\u201d around election integrity. These \u201clanguage games\u201d could otherwise be called \u201cpropaganda,\u201d and are usually marked by an attempt to make bad or even evil policy sound right or compassionate. Examples include \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/04\/05\/colorado-codifies-fundamental-right-abortion-denies-any-rights-for-unborn\/\">reproductive healthcare<\/a>,\u201d which is actually abortion \u2014 the killing of an unborn child \u2014 or \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/03\/31\/biden-administration-promotes-transgender-sex-change-surgery-puberty-blockers-for-minors\/\">gender-affirming care for minors<\/a>,\u201d which actually involves prescribing puberty blockers and hormones, and sometimes sex-change surgeries, for children who believe they are transgender.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to election integrity, Democrats have used a similar strategy. GOP bills have been smeared as a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/01\/11\/joe-biden-to-denounce-republican-voting-integrity-laws-as-domestic-enemy-of-democracy\/\">threat to democracy<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/clips\/2022\/01\/16\/clyburn-biden-is-right-gop-voting-laws-are-jim-crow-2-0\/\">Jim Crow 2.0<\/a>,\u201d and Republican lawmakers have been maligned as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/clips\/2022\/01\/09\/maxine-waters-gop-voting-legislation-about-racism\/\">racist<\/a>\u201d supporters of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/entertainment\/2022\/03\/10\/michelle-obama-when-we-all-vote-stokes-fear-of-racially-motivated-voter-suppression-in-hbcu-campaign\/\">voter suppression<\/a>\u201d for wanting to curtail <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/01\/04\/georgia-authorities-initiate-probe-into-possible-illegal-ballot-harvesting-in-2020-election\/\">ballot harvesting<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/03\/24\/florida-counties-open-investigations-felons-voting-2020-election\/\">voter fraud<\/a> in upcoming elections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you need to speak in very direct terms. You need to say that for election integrity, it needs to be easy to vote and hard to cheat. But the broader aspect of your question\u2026 is we need to call out broadly the duplicitous nature of Democrats\u2019 language,\u201d Budd said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a rule of thumb and it is: If the Democrats are blaming someone for it, it\u2019s actually what they are doing. If they\u2019re talking about destroying democracy, it\u2019s actually what they are doing,\u201d he continued.<span>\u00a0\u201c<\/span>So I think we need to expose the language games that they\u2019ve been playing on us for decades and letting mainstream media carry their water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/katherineeeeee2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As \u201cfair elections\u201d continue to\u00a0poll as a top priority for U.S. voters, Trump-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) said his home state of North Carolina has \u201cmore work<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1422735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1422735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1422735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1422735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1422735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}