{"id":1634369,"date":"2022-09-06T14:32:41","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T18:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1634369"},"modified":"2022-09-06T14:33:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T18:33:03","slug":"unreliable-voter-rolls-poison-election-integrity-but-one-group-might-have-the-antidote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/unreliable-voter-rolls-poison-election-integrity-but-one-group-might-have-the-antidote\/","title":{"rendered":"Unreliable Voter Rolls Poison Election Integrity, But One Group Might Have The Antidote"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/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%2Funreliable-voter-rolls-poison-election-integrity-but-one-group-might-have-the-antidote%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=1634369&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--><p>For millions of Americans, the conduction of the 2020 general election continues to raise more questions than provide answers \u2014 and rightly so. <\/p>\n<p>In unprecedented fashion, outside actors such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg attempted to exert influence on the electoral process by <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/12\/the-2020-election-wasnt-stolen-it-was-bought-by-mark-zuckerberg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pouring<\/a> hundreds of millions of dollars into left-wing nonprofits to infiltrate government elections offices and fund Democrat get-out-the-vote operations in key battleground states across the country. <\/p>\n<p>To make matters much worse, Zuckerberg\u2019s company, Facebook, alongside Twitter, took unilateral action to suppress The New York Post\u2019s infamous Hunter Biden laptop story in the days leading up to the election at <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/30\/zuckerbergs-admission-of-fbi-meddling-in-2020-election-is-even-bigger-than-it-seems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the behest of the FBI<\/a>. Combined with the altering of state election laws through unconstitutional means, the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of the 2020 contest have resulted in many voters feeling uneasy about the security of America\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n<p>In spite of such distrust and confusion, however, one increasingly notable election integrity group is seeking to usher in a new era of transparency to election systems nationwide and help restore Americans\u2019 trust in the electoral process. Known as the Voter Reference Foundation (VRF), the group aims to provide voters with critical information by ranking states based on how transparent they\u2019re being with their data and overall election operations, such as the use of ballot drop boxes and private money in elections. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we\u2019re going to have a democracy, we have to have accurate and confidence-inspiring elections,\u201d VRF President Doug Truax told The Federalist. \u201cThat creates good self-governance, but you can\u2019t govern [when] you can\u2019t tell what\u2019s going on in the election. \u2026 We have to have 100 percent transparency in the election system. That\u2019s the only way we\u2019re going to get out of this cycle we\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ensuring that voters\u2019 information, such as their current address, are up to date not only helps to prevent eligible voters from experiencing issues when casting their ballot, but it also helps promote effective election administration. In Clark County, Nevada, for instance, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/nevada-thousands-mail-in-ballots-went-wrong-addresses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">estimated<\/a> 92,000 ballots \u201cwere returned undeliverable to wrong or outdated addresses\u201d in the 2020 general election after Democrat state officials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/08\/03\/politics\/nevada-mail-ballots-registered-voters\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed legislation<\/a> to automatically send mail-in ballots to every individual listed on the state\u2019s \u201cactive\u201d voter list.<\/p>\n<p>At the heart of VRF\u2019s election integrity efforts is <a href=\"https:\/\/voteref.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VoteRef.com<\/a>, a website launched in August 2021 dedicated to providing \u201cpublic access to official government data pertaining to elections, including voter registration rolls, with a goal of encouraging greater voter participation in all fifty states.\u201d According to Truax, one of the key objectives of VoteRef.com is for \u201cevery state [to] get perfect scores on their [VRF] scorecards\u201d regarding their \u201cdata transparency\u201d and election operations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do want every state to put their information up online 24\/7 and update it instantaneously,\u201d he said. If \u201call 50 states and the District of Columbia [had] all their [voter roll data]\u201d updated \u201cin real time,\u201d there\u2019d be \u201cno need for VoteRef.com because they would be doing it themselves. But that doesn\u2019t exist at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While VRF has successfully published the latest voter roll data from more than 30 states and Washington, D.C., the group hasn\u2019t done so without backlash from both Democrat and Republican state officials. In July, VRF received a letter from the Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT) <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/29\/youngkin-era-law-forces-election-integrity-group-to-take-down-its-list-of-virginia-voter-rolls\/?_thumbnail_id=274217\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">demanding<\/a> that the group \u201cimmediately remove the Virginia voter list and any personal voter information from its website\u201d or risk being charged with a Class 5 felony for \u201cthe crime of election fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The legal reasoning laid out in the letter from ELECT was based upon a law signed earlier this year by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, which prohibits recipients \u201cof a list of registered voters from publishing on the Internet any of the information contained in such list as a list, database, or other similar searchable format or providing information contained in a list of registered voters to a third party for such purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Virginia, VRF has also faced legal threats from Democrat officials in New Mexico for publishing the state\u2019s voter rolls to VoteRef.com. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/news\/politics\/2022\/07\/25\/us-judge-oks-online-publication-of-new-mexico-voter-records\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Associated Press<\/a>, \u201cNew Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat, in March referred the matter [to] the attorney general\u2019s office for possible prosecution of the Voter Reference Foundation, which published New Mexico registration records online at the time after obtaining them through an out-of-state business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite state Democrats\u2019 best efforts to stymie VRF\u2019s goal of bringing transparency to New Mexico voter rolls, a federal judge granted the election integrity group\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction in late July that allowed for the publishing of election data on VoteRef.com. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe judge\u2019s order blocks prosecution while the case advances toward trial and said that the Voter Reference Foundation is likely to prevail in its claim as the victim of viewpoint discrimination by election regulators,\u201d the AP report reads.<\/p>\n<p>Among the other states currently being pressed to release key election information is Pennsylvania, where VRF recently filed a lawsuit against state election officials \u201cto ensure citizens there can view public voter roll records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Filed in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania last month, the lawsuit alleges that \u201cthe Pennsylvania Department of State is violating VRF\u2019s First Amendment rights and its rights under the National Voter Registration Act to allow the public to scrutinize voter records they pay for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpecifically, the lawsuit alleges that Pennsylvania election authorities are arbitrarily blocking VRF\u2019s access to the Pennsylvania list without statutory or constitutional authority to do so,\u201d a VRF <a href=\"https:\/\/voteref.com\/press_releases\/39-vrf-files-suit-in-pennsylvania-to-force-election-officials-to-make-voter-rolls-transparent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press release<\/a> reads. \u201cThe election authorities are requiring VRF to sign a pledge not to publish the list on the internet in order to access it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Truax, VRF is also planning to file lawsuits against several states over election data transparency in the near future. Truax did not specify which states the lawsuits would entail, however.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t care what position you hold right now, this is this United States of America. We have a Constitution. You can\u2019t just hide stuff that you don\u2019t want out [and] that is public information,\u201d said Truax. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take some time, but legally they don\u2019t have a leg to stand on. \u2026 The only way we\u2019re going to get better \u2026 elections is more transparency, not less. People get that and the people arguing against that are definitely on the wrong side of history.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For millions of Americans, the conduction of the 2020 general election continues to raise more questions than provide answers \u2014 and rightly so. In unprecedented fashion, outside actors such<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"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-1634369","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\/1634369","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\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1634369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634369\/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=1634369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1634369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1634369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}